Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock Holmes (2009)
Vitals
Robert Downey, Jr. as Sherlock Holmes, eccentric consulting detective
London, November 1890
Film: Sherlock Holmes Release Date: December 25, 2009 Director: Guy Ritchie Costume Designer: Jenny Beavan
Background
Looking for a historical Halloween costume in a pinch? In the spirit of #SherlockSunday, grab a peacoat, a peaked cap, and a pair of suspenders, and you’re good to go!
But isn’t Sherlock Holmes most associated with the classic Basil Hathbone ensemble of a deerstalker cap and Ulster cape? Not so in the 2009 film starring Robert Downey Jr. as the iconic detective, as director Guy Ritchie insisted that his incarnation would neither wear the deerstalker nor say “Elementary, my dear Watson,” choosing instead to present what Roger Ebert would call a “cheerfully revisionist” take on Arthur Conan Doyle’s character.
(In addition to the classic Edwardian era attire worn in the Guy Ritchie films starring Downey and Jude Law, I’ve had several requests to write about Benedict Cumberbatch’s long tweed Belstaff “Milford” coat in the modern-set BBC series Sherlock. I assure you there will be a major exploration of that adaptation coming your way once I’ve seen and screencapped every episode and conducted adequate research!)
What’d He Wear?
Robert Downey Jr.’s attire as Sherlock Holmes – typically consisting of frock coats in black cord or plum wool, fancy brocade waistcoats, and striped cravats – doesn’t much lend itself to anything realistically wearable or practical 130 years after the first written adventure, A Study in Scarlet, was published.
For this covert nighttime adventure at the London docks, however, Holmes tones down his sartorial approach by donning the unobstrusive and appropriately seafaring disguise of a wool peacoat and cap. The peacoat’s long maritime heritage dates back to the 1700s, and the heavy jacket’s ability to survive in more or less an unadulterated form for three centuries speaks volumes about its potency as outerwear.
Holmes’ pea coat is black wool that looks a bit lighter than the 30 oz. heavy Melton wool cloth often used in early naval pea jackets. The set-in sleeves are roped at each shoulder, and there is a straight flapped set-in pocket on each hip. The six buttons on the front are brown horn sew-through buttons rather than the classic naval-motif plastic or gilt buttons, and they are arranged in the traditional rectangular formation with three rows of two buttons each.
Also worthy of mention is Jude Law’s fantastic era-designed brown herringbone tweed three-piece suit as Dr. Watson. We’ll get to that in a later post…
Holmes wears a taupe striped pullover shirt with a point collar worn “popped” perhaps to downplay the shirt’s stylistic similarities to a modern-day off-the-rack button-up shirt. The shirt has four large brown plastic sew-through buttons on the plain front, extending down to his abdomen where a small horizontal strip runs perpendicular to the shirt’s French placket. Each sleeve closes with a single button on the cuff, though Holmes wears his cuffs unbuttoned to inject a little more chaos into his aesthetic.
Holmes’ taupe shirt with its black hairline stripes and wider muted brown stripes echoes the suspenders (braces) worn over it. The suspenders are widely striped in black, brown, and black with black leather double-hooks that fasten to buttons along the inside of the trouser waistband in the front and back.
Holmes pontificates.
Holmes wears a pair of golden brown pinwale corduroy flat front trousers, clearly a few sizes too large but held up by his aforementioned suspenders. The waistband is split with a back notch to accommodate the rear loops of his suspenders. The darted back also has a cinch adjuster strap and no pockets. The slightly flared trouser bottoms are plain-hemmed.
Holmes also wears a wide dark brown leather belt around the outside of his trousers, as they have no belt loops, which seems to mostly serve the purpose of keeping his revolver in the place. The belt hooks in the front through a large brass single-prong buckle.
Note the short horizontal strip across the shirt’s abdomen (at left), which cuts off the “French placket” and indicates that it is, indeed, a pullover shirt rather than a traditional button-up.
Holmes appears to be wearing a pair of black leather paddock boots with a cap toe. Paddock boots are a type of low-heeled riding boots often fastened with a lace-up front and/or a buckled strap. (I’ve also read that “paddock boots” was an early term for the elastic-sided Chelsea boot, though Holmes appears to be wearing Paddock boots of the lace-up variety.)
Holmes and Irene take a tumble.
To top off his maritime-inspired ensemble, Holmes wears a plain dark charcoal wool peaked “skipper cap” with a stiff black visor.
This type of headgear is also known as a “fiddler cap” for Topol-related reasons.
Robert Downey Jr. and Rachel McAdams in Sherlock Holmes (2009)
How to Get the Look
Sherlock Holmes’ simple dark pea jacket, taupe striped shirt, corduroy trousers, and boots is a fine example of how old-fashioned workwear can be revived and modernized for a stylish fall look.
Black wool peacoat with broad lapels, 6×3-button front, straight flapped set-in hip pockets, and plain cuffs
Taupe striped pullover shirt with point collar, four-button plain-front bib, and 1-button squared cuffs
Brown pinwale corduroy flat front trousers with cinch adjuster back strap and plain-hemmed bottoms
Black/tan/black-striped suspenders with black leather hooks
Dark brown wide leather belt with brass single-prong buckle
Black leather cap-toe paddock boots
Charcoal wool peaked cap with black visor
Another Edwardian era BAMF Style favorite, Sidney Reilly (Sam Neill), can be seen wearing a classic peacoat in the third episode of Reilly: Ace of Spies when in disguise as a German fireman.
The Gun
Sherlock Holmes employs his own revolver as a plot device, conspicuously leaving it behind so that Dr. Watson – who has “retired” from joining Holmes on his adventures – is forced to bring it to him.
Watson, of course, is aware of this (“He’s left it there on purpose,” he remarks with an eyeroll) but simply can’t let his friend enter a dangerous situation without his sidearm, which the IMFDB folks have identified as a Webley No. 5 “Express” revolver, “though of a style colloquially termed a ‘Webley RIC’.”
Holmes conspicuously leaves his Webley for Watson to discover.
British arms manufacturer Webley & Scott introduced its first double-action revolver in the 1867; following its adoption the next year by the Royal Irish Constabulary, it became colloquially known as the Webley “RIC” model. The legendarily eccentric American general George Armstrong Custer was known to have owned at least one pair of Webley RIC revolvers, and it is rumored – though not conclusively proven – that these were his weapons of choice during his infamous “last stand” with the 7th Cavalry during the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876.
The Webley No. 5 Army Revolver was introduced the following decade and chambered for a variety of ammunition ranging from the large .44-40 Winchester, .455 Webley, and .476 Eley cartridges to smaller .360 and .38 calibers. Though never adopted by the British Army, it did find use among the Transvaal army in South Africa.
Sherlock Holmes appears to be carrying the down-scaled Webley No. 5 “Express” model with a four-inch barrel rather than the standard 5.5″ barrel. Per IMFDB, it can be identified by its “an early-style deeply-fluted cylinder (deeper front-to-rear than either the Bulldog or the true RIC), and a contoured frame at the lower edge ahead of the trigger guard. It also features a flattened swivel-type rammer, squared-off butt with lanyard ring, and a nickel finish.”
Holmes shows a rather cavalier attitude toward his firearm, carrying it loosely in his belt and disregarding his own advice to “save the bullets” after he and Watson are startled at the docks.
Watson: “What was that about saving bullets?”
Dr. Watson also carries a Webley revolver, a smaller-framed “British Bulldog” that was commonly manufactured and copied during the era. A British Bulldog was notably the deranged Charles J. Guiteau’s weapon of choice when he assassinated U.S. President James A. Garfield in 1881.
Ray Milland, Robert Cummings, and John Williams in Dial M for Murder (1954)
Vitals
Ray Milland as Tony Wendice, conniving former tennis pro
Robert Cummings as Mark Halliday, romantic American crime writer
Anthony Dawson as C.A. Swann, opportunistic con man
John Williams as Chief Inspector Hubbard, clever Scotland Yard detective
London, Fall 1953 and Spring 1954
Film:Dial M for Murder Release Date: May 29, 1954 Director: Alfred Hitchcock Wardrobe Credits: Moss Mabry & Jack Delaney
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
This year’s Halloween post is a Suits and Suspense Spook-tacular, exploring the possible meaning behind the menswear of Hitchcock’s classic Dial M for Murder as well as an appreciation of some damn fine 1950s tailoring!
Dial M for Murder, in case you haven’t seen it, is a sophisticated yet chilling thriller starring Ray Milland and Grace Kelly as married couple Tony and Margot Wendice whose secrets from each other drive the plot. Her secret is that she’s having an affair with American writer Mark Halliday (Robert Cummings); his secret is that he wants to kill her. Rounding out the cast is John Williams reprising his role from the Frederick Knott-penned stageplay as the sagacious Inspector Hubbard and Anthony Dawson as the crooked con man contracted by Tony to carry out the deed against Margot.
This exploratory feature post is going to be a little different than past pieces, serving up every outfit worn by the major male characters over the context of the entire film. That means this post will be packed with a staggering 12 outfits… not to mention a level of extrapolary detail that reveals, if nothing else, that I spend far too much time thinking about men’s style in the movies. Time for a drink!
What’d They Wear?
Oh hi, Mark
The first scene of Dial M for Murder is a quick single-shot vignette of Mark Halliday (Robert Cummings) arriving in England, optimistic and looking forward to his tryst with the married Margot Wendice (Grace Kelly). It’s likely the fall, as it’s later revealed during the trial that the following day’s murder was committed on Saturday, September 26. (However, Mark later says that it was March 26… further complicating matters.)
Mark’s gray semi-solid suit: Single-breasted, three-button jacket with notch lapels, welted breast pocket, straight jetted hip pockets. Likely pleated trousers with turn-ups/cuffs. White shirt with spread collar and double/French cuffs. Navy silk tie. Navy wool v-neck sweater (never seen again). Brown leather cap-toe oxfords. Brown fedora. Taupe topcoat (carried, never worn) echoes both his gray suit and brown accessories and outerwear.
Setting the Stage
We next catch up with Mark and Margot in mid-affair, exchanging smooches and Scotch in the Wendice living room. They are soon joined by Margot’s debonair husband Tony (Ray Milland), who seems blissfully unaware of the true nature of his wife’s visitor.
Tony and Mark are dressed in what is essentially the same outfit: a solid-colored two-piece suit with single-breasted, low stance two-button jackets with all of the same details (white pocket square, low straight jetted hip pockets, four-button cuffs, ventless back) and even patterned ties. It’s what each man does with this “1950s uniform” that differentiates him, particularly in Margot’s eyes as she strives to settle her inner romantic conflict.
Margot and her well-suited suitors.
Tony, in his earth tones, symbolizes home and a grounded life that would be easy and familiar for Margot. Of course, familiarity breeds contempt as the saying goes, and Margot’s warnings to Mark about Tony’s behavior and attitudes indicate that there is something less than comforting beneath his earthy surface. Mark, on the other hand, is far more vibrant in his navy suit and red tie… more colorful and exciting to Margot if not quite as safe. Red will be established as Mark’s “passion color” and his whimsically patterned tie here reflects his relatively “lightweight” attitude as he isn’t yet preoccupied with murder and the potential death of his lover. His red tie also coordinates with her red dress and shoes, though she wraps herself in a brown mink that echoes the brown-wearing Tony’s hold on her.
Mark’s navy flannel suit: Single-breasted, two-button jacket with notch lapels, welted breast pocket (with white linen folded pocket square), low straight jetted hip pockets, four-button cuffs, likely ventless back. Double forward-pleated trousers with side pockets and cuffed bottoms. White shirt with point collar and French cuffs (with gold cuff links). Maroon satin silk slim tie with decorative yellow and blue motif. Black leather shoes, probably oxfords. Pearl gray fedora with wide black grosgrain band. Gold wristwatch.
Tony’s taupe worsted suit: Single-breasted, two-button jacket with notch lapels, slanted welted breast pocket (with white linen folded pocket square), low straight jetted hip pockets, four-button cuffs, no vents. Forward-pleated trousers finished with cuffs. White shirt with English spread collar and button cuffs. Brown patterned tie, wider than Mark’s ties. Brown leather cap-toe oxfords with black socks. Khaki raincoat (carried here, more important later.)
“Captain Lesgate”
C.A. Swann (Anthony Dawson), aka “Captain Lesgate” among other names, is the only character to wear the same thing throughout his multiple appearances on screen. Where the other male characters prefer tasteful and traditional suits in the spirit of mid-1950s fashion, Swann opts for a louder array of patterns and colors that differentiate him from the rest of the Dial M for Murder pack. He doesn’t “belong” in this picture, and – thus – he is the only character not to survive it.
C.A. Swann is a simple man. All that he’s got hidden up his sleeve is a strangely fastened shirt cuff and a string of swindled spinsters.
Looking closer at Swann’s attire reveals some interesting details. Swann curiously wears his white double-cuffed shirt with one side fastened over the other like a single barrel cuff. This unorthodox manner for wearing cuff links has sparked debate on online menswear forums, with the general consensus being that this is a sloppy and immature look at best… though it does have some proponents when worn under a long-sleeved jumper like Swann does.
His red-and-navy striped tie has all the look of a traditional club or regimental tie, something one would expect of the Oxford-educated “Captain Lesgate” without any of the actual pedigree of military service. The tie itself with its curiously American right shoulder-down-to-left hip striping, is almost certainly Brooks Brothers’ BB#4 rep tie. (This tie is still available for $79.50 from Brooks Brothers.)
C.A. Swann’s outfit: Tan and brown gingham-check herringbone flannel single-breasted 3-roll-2 button sport jacket with notch lapels, welted breast pocket, straight jetted hip pockets, two-button cuffs, and single back vent. White shirt with point collar and French cuffs, interestingly worn like a barrel cuff. Red-and-navy right-down-to-left-striped club tie. Navy wool v-neck long-sleeve sweater. Charcoal flannel double forward-pleated trousers with side pockets and cuffed bottoms. Chocolate brown nubuck leather derby-laced chukka boots with hard leather soles. Gray gabardine twill trench coat with epaulettes, 6×3-button front, belt, straight side hand pockets, and adjustable two-button cuff tabs. Cream cashmere scarf. Gold watch, left wrist (though a later close-up depicts a steel watch on a dark brown leather band) and gold signet ring, left pinky.
A Black Tie Affair
Tony invites Mark along to a Saturday night stag party at his club, for which the rules of black tie would dictate men in dinner jackets. Lucky for Mark that he brought his tux across the pond!
Both men’s dinner jackets are consistent with the postwar silhouette of built-up shoulders, sweeping peak lapels, and suppressed waists, but the details beneath that differ wildly. Mark is attired in “a turndown collar shirt and narrow batwing tie,” resulting in what Black Tie Guide calls “the quintessential fifties tuxedo.” Consider what Ian Fleming wrote for that most tuxedoed of cultural icons, James Bond, in his inaugural 007 novel published in 1953, the same year that Dial M for Murder was filmed:
As he tied his thin, double-ended black satin tie, he paused for a moment and examined himself levelly in the mirror… He looked carefully round the room to see if anything had been forgotten and slipped his single-breasted dinner-jacket coat over his heavy silk evening shirt… He… gave a final pull of his narrow tie and walked out of the door and locked it.
– Casino Royale, Chapter 8
Tony opts for a less formal approach, sporting one of his regular white shirts with buttoned barrel cuffs! This breach in formality may be surprising coming from the Brit rather than the American, but it’s worth accounting for the context of the scene. By early 20th century standards, any situation with no women present automatically downgrades the degree of formality; formality would be further relaxed during the World War II era as men were more frequently dining out in regular business suits. Thus, Tony could be given some leeway when sporting his less-than-formal shirt with a dinner suit for a stag party at his men’s club.
Mark’s Black Tie Ensemble: Midnight blue single-breasted dinner jacket with straight-gorge satin-faced peak lapels, welted breast pocket (with white linen folded pocket square), straight jetted hip pockets, four-button cuffs, no vents. Midnight formal forward-pleated trousers with very high rise and likely plain-hemmed bottoms. White traditional formal shirt with long point collar, widely pleated front (with studs), and double cuffs. Black batwing bow tie. Navy raincoat with set-in sleeves and adjustable single-button tab cuffs.
Mark’s outfit may be more fashionable for the mid-1950s, but Tony’s more traditional ensemble proves to be timeless.
Tony’s Black Tie Ensemble: Black single-breasted “drape cut” dinner jacket with wide satin-faced peak lapels, slanted welted breast pocket (with white linen folded pocket square), straight jetted hip pockets, four-button cuffs, no vents. Black formal satin side-striped forward-pleated trousers with side pockets and plain-hemmed bottoms. White shirt with spread collar, front placket (with mother-of-pearl buttons, not studs), and single-button squared barrel cuffs. Black butterfly/thistle-shaped bow tie. Black patent leather oxfords with black socks. Black overcoat (carried).
Note Tony’s informal shirt with its front placket and button cuffs.
The Aftermath
The next day, Tony Wendice is carrying himself like a man who has gotten away with “the perfect murder”. His suit and tie are exquisitely coordinated as his navy tie echoes the blue windowpane in his beautifully textured gray flannel suit. He’s as smooth as he looks, adapting to a major wrench in his plans and still adeptly engineering things to achieve his nefarious goals. It is tailored and styled exactly the same as his previous taupe suit, but his look now channels cold calculation rather than warm groundedness.
Ice and steel. Note also the black bottle to Tony’s right, labeled “Gordon’s.” Is this the Wendice household’s preferred gin?
At this point, the only potential major obstacle could be the police, but when Chief Inspector Hubbard (John Williams) arrives at the door also sporting a gray suit and blue patterned tie, it’s clear to the viewer that these men are in the same league… at least for now.
These variations on the same theme subtly indicate a uniform of coldness as both are pressuring Margot and, in turn, indicting her.
Do you feel judged?!
The more old-fashioned Hubbard is hardly wearing the exact same thing as Tony, rather just the same colors, and he is the only major character to break from single-breasted tailoring to sport a double-breasted jacket. Hubbard’s bow tie and jumper are a clear contrast to the sleek two-piece suits of the two men who are silently vying to control Margot’s future.
The bit of fraying on the bottom right ribbing of his sweater is just enough to not outright ruin the garment, and it’s exactly the amount of wear-and-tear that one would expect to see on a man like Chief Inspector Hubbard.
Note the slight fraying on the bottom of Inspector Hubbard’s sweater.
Aside from the now-departed Swann, Hubbard’s is the most distinctly different style of menswear in the film and a clear sign that the Wendices have an “interloper” in their midst. Unlike Swann, however, Hubbard’s taste is more traditional and thus better suited (in a Hitchcock film, anyway) for a heroic role.
And speaking of heroes… Mark is the last to arrive on the scene, standing out from the gents questioning Margot by wearing a cool blue suit and a dark burgundy red silk tie. I established earlier that red appears to be Mark’s passion color, and he’s wearing it here as the only man on the scene passionately advocating on Margot’s behalf.
Mark’s navy chalkstripe suit: Single-breasted, three-button jacket with wide notch lapels, welted breast pocket (with white linen folded pocket square), straight jetted hip pockets, four-button cuffs, no vents. Forward-pleated trousers with side pockets and likely cuffed bottoms. White shirt with spread collar and French cuffs (with gold cuff links). Burgundy satin silk slim tie.
Tony’s gray flannel suit with light blue windowpane overcheck: Single-breasted, two-button jacket with notch lapels, slanted welted breast pocket (with white linen folded pocket square), low straight jetted hip pockets, four-button cuffs, no vents. Double forward-pleated trousers with belt loops and two back suspender buttons, side pockets and no back pockets, turn-ups/cuffs. White shirt with semi-spread collar, front placket, and button cuffs. Navy mini-patterned silk tie (tucked into trousers!) Red suspenders/braces with black hardware and fastenings. Black leather oxfords with black silk dress socks.
Hubbard’s gray chalkstripe flannel suit: Double-breasted jacket with low 4×2-button front, wide peak lapels, welted breast pocket (white pocket square, not neatly folded), straight jetted hip pockets, three-button cuffs, no vents. Double forward-pleated trousers with side pockets, back right pocket, and turn-ups/cuffs. White shirt with point collar, front placket, and French cuffs (with gold rectangular cuff links). Navy mini-dotted butterfly-shaped bow tie. Gray cashmere v-neck sweater (slightly frayed on bottom ribbing, right side). Black leather cap-toe oxfords. Black homburg with pinched crown. Khaki raincoat with plaid lining.
Reprieve and Retribution
Months have passed. Margot has been convicted of Swann’s pre-meditated murder and is awaiting execution. Mark channels his undying love for her into freeing her, and he’s all business when he shows up at the Wendice threshold, having set aside his red passion tie and donned a gray worsted suit, the traditional office wear of the American businessman. (It’s worth noting that this suit with its two-button jacket is not the same as the gray suit with a three-button jacket that he wore for the vignette of his arrival in the beginning of the film.)
While Mark is all business, Tony, on the other hand, is dressed in his most casual and laidback getup yet: a textured gray tweed sport jacket. His purple tie evokes the color of royalty as he’s been living the easy life in his self-imposed kingdom since Margot’s incarceration, spending her money. And yet, his tie is knotted in a small four-in-hand, almost restrictively tight as the noose grows tighter around his own neck.
Both dressed in gray, Mark and Tony look considerably less vibrant than their first meeting earlier in the film.
One interesting sartorial observation: up to this point, Mark and Tony both wore ventless jackets exclusively. Now, Tony wears a single-vented sport coat and Mark’s suit jacket has double vents. Did men’s fashion really evolve that much over the few months that Margot has been in prison?
Arriving on the scene is good old Inspector Hubbard, again blazing a trail in a dark striped flannel three-piece suit, the only three-piece suit to be worn by any character. Now, Hubbard is in all navy blue against Tony’s gray and purple; the two are no longer on the same team. Blue is the traditional color of police uniforms… law and justice has finally arrived to save the day.
Margot’s POV: an astonished Mark and rather self-satisfied Inspector Hubbard, both in navy ties, greet her upon her unexpected return home.
And, alas, this scene also offers the significance of Chekhov’s Raincoat! Hubbard had brought his raincoat for his first meeting at the Wendice home, where its sole purpose was seemingly a quick moment of comic relief as an accidental seat cushion for Mark.
Now, Hubbard uses his and Tony’s similar raincoats to conduct a series of switches to prove his theory correct. Six decades later, it seems an anachronistic device as most men rarely wear proper outerwear, let alone outerwear as standardized as the khaki gabardine raincoat was in the early 1950s.
Raincoat hijinks!
Mark’s gray worsted pick suit: Single-breasted, two-button jacket with notch lapels, welted breast pocket (with white linen folded pocket square), low straight jetted hip pockets, spaced three-button cuffs, short double vents. Forward-pleated trousers with slanted side pockets and cuffs. White shirt with spread collar and French cuffs (with gold rectangular cuff links). Dark navy silk slim tie. White suspenders (per behind-the-scenesphotos). Black leather cap-toe oxfords with black socks. Pearl gray fedora with wide black grosgrain ribbon.
Tony’s gray sportcoat and slacks: Gray textured twill-striped tweed single-breasted, two-button sport jacket with notch lapels, slanted patch breast pocket (with white linen folded pockt square), straight jetted hip pockets, four-button cuffs, and short single vent. Gray flannel trousers. White shirt with spread collar and mitred button cuffs. Purple-dotted lavender silk tie, knotted in tight four-in-hand. Black patent leather oxfords. Khaki raincoat.
Hubbard’s navy chalkstripe flannel three-piece suit: Single-breasted, 3-roll-2 buttoning jacket with notch lapels, welted breast pocket (with white linen pocket square), straight jetted hip pockets, four-button cuffs, no vents. Single-breasted, six-button waistcoat with four welted pockets and notched bottom. Double forward-pleated trousers with side pockets and cuffed bottoms. White shirt with semi-spread collar, front placket, and French cuffs (with gold rectangular cuff links). Navy silk tie. Black leather cap-toe oxfords with perforated stitching across toe cap. Black homburg with pinched crown. Khaki raincoat with plaid lining.
What to Imbibe
Despite only four drinking characters and four days depicted on screen, the Dial M for Murder crew does quite a number on the Wendice household’s well-stocked booze collection… though they tend to limit their imbibing to only three of the most classic concoctions:
Scotch & Soda
The soon-to-be condemned man enjoys one last nip.
Who drinks it? Tony Wendice, Margot Wendice, and Mark Halliday.
What brand of booze? Johnnie Walker Red Label is the Wendice whisky of choice, and Tony even tipples a dram neat at the film’s denouement after he’s been exposed.
How do they make it? Pour some whisky straight from the bottle into a highball glass. Siphon in some carbonated water from a soda siphon bottle, and voila! You’ve got yourself a highball.
Martini
Better living through gin.
Who drinks it? Tony Wendice, Margot Wendice, and Mark Halliday.
What brand of booze? Though not seen during the actual martini-mixing process, a bottle of Gordon’s can be spotted on the Wendice bar.
How do they make it? We catch up with Tony halfway through his concocting, but he appears to be stirring gin, ice, and what is likely a small amount of dry vermouth in a glass mixing glass. (Apologies, Mr. Bond.) He then strains into three traditional martini glasses and serves them up with no garnish.
Brandy, straight
Tony’s brandy evidently meets with Swann’s satisfaction. Like he would know.
Who drinks it? Tony Wendice and C.A. Swann.
What brand of booze? “This calls for a special drink,” declares Tony upon his “reunion” with Swann. “I was planning to palm you off with an indifferent port, but let’s see what we have here,” he says before grabbing for a bottle of brandy apparently named Kennedy’s in red print on a beige square label. The brand is unfamiliar to me.
How do they make it? Tony simply pours the brandy into proper snifters for he and Swann to drink. No additions needed.
Burt Lancaster as J.J. Hunsecker in Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
Vitals
Burt Lancaster as J.J. Hunsecker, powerful and domineering newspaper columnist
New York City, Fall 1956
Film:Sweet Smell of Success Release Date: June 27, 1957 Director: Alexander Mackendrick Costume Designer: Mary Grant
Background
In commemoration of Burt Lancaster’s birthday today, I’m exploring my favorite of his films, the atmospheric 1957 noir Sweet Smell of Success that starred Lancaster as acerbic columnist J.J. Hunsecker to Tony Curtis’ unscrupulous PR flack Sidney Falco.
J.J. Hunsecker is a man whose legendary power and mercurial temper is meant to intimidate nearly all in his orbit. To illustrate just how perfect Lancaster was for this role, consider that Ernest Lehman – who co-wrote the screenplay adapted from his own novelette – declined the opportunity to direct the film due to a stomach illness (though some say it was in part due to his fear of working with Lancaster.) Lancaster evidently blamed the film’s lack of success on the box office on Lehman’s withdrawal, confronting him at the after party by saying: “You could have made this a much better picture. I ought to beat you up!” to which Lehman, having evidently overcome his fear of the aggressive actor, replied “Go ahead, I need the money.”
Time has been kinder than the box office to Sweet Smell of Success, and – six decades on – the film remains an intriguing ode to 1950s New York thanks to Alexander Mackendrick’s direction, James Wong Howe’s cinematography, and the talented cast’s ability to deliver the snappy dialogue penned in a screenplay co-written by Lehman, Mackendrick, and playwright Clifford Odets, all underscored by a jazzy soundtrack composed by Elmer Bernstein and performed by the Chico Hamilton Quintet. Bernstein himself had some choice words from his experience with Lancaster:
Burt was really scary. He was a dangerous guy. He had a short fuse.
One could say the same of J.J. Hunsecker.
What’d He Wear?
J.J. Hunsecker’s primary suit in Sweet Smell of Success is a dark birdseye wool suit, likely charcoal gray or dark navy blue, worn for his introduction at the 21 Club and his final confrontation with Sidney in his penthouse apartment.
One phone call is all it takes for J.J. Hunsecker to ruin an enemy.
J.J. wears only double-breasted suits, reflecting a popular style in the mid-fifties but also projecting strength and intimidation through the style’s strong, boxy cut. His double-breasted suit jackets have low four-on-one button fronts in the “Kent” style, which he wears both open and closed. The peak lapels have slanted gorges, pointing at the wide and strongly padded shoulders. Only the three-button cuffs on this jacket differentiate the styling of this suit from his other suit, also double-breasted but in a lighter shade of flannel.
J.J. wears a white pocket square neatly folded in the jacket’s welted breast pocket. The jetted hip pockets and ventless back are consistent with typical double-breasted styling of the era.
J.J. and Sidney make their way out of 21.
The suit’s flat front trousers, best seen when J.J. wears his jacket open, are held up with a thin dark leather belt with a small square single-prong buckle. The full cut extends to the bottoms, finished with cuffs (turn-ups), that break over his dark oxford shoes and dark socks.
J.J. wears a white shirt with a long point collar that compliments Burt Lancaster’s wider head. The shirt has a front placket and squared double (French) cuffs held together by textured square links.
His first tie, worn for an evening at 21 Club, is solid dark silk. It appears to be about 3″ wide and fall about an inch short of his trouser waistband.
“Match me, Sidney.”
J.J.’s second tie, worn during the finale, is white or pale-colored silk with a subtle pinhead texture that differentiates its from the untextured light-colored tie he wore with his lighter flannel suit. Both are tied in a Windsor knot that covers the moderate tie space of his shirt’s point collar.
Leo Bartha describes J.J. as having “the scruples of a guinea pig and the morals of a gangster.” Thus, his gangsterish attire of dark suit and light-on-light tie for the final scene.
Venturing outside, J.J. dons his coat and hat. Unlike Sidney, his income and lifestyle preclude him from the expense of leaving “a tip in every hat-check room in town!” His mid-colored felt fedora, probably gray, has a wide black grosgrain band.
J.J.’s dark wool single-breasted overcoat has notch lapels that roll to a three-button front. The coat also has patch side pockets and a swollen seam down the center back.
A dedicated columnist like J.J. doesn’t even take the time to remove his coat upon getting home, lighting up one of his English Ovals, and tapping away at the Remington Rand.
Ten years after browline glasses jumped onto the fashion scene with the Shuron “Ronsir” brand, Burt Lancaster canonized this style of eyewear in Sweet Smell of Success, identified by BAMF Style reader Preston Fassel as Art Craft “Clubman” eyeglasses based on the subtle sloped studs. The Clubman is still offered from the nearly century-old brand Art Craft Optical and can be purchased for just over $100 from Frames Direct.
Mackendrick had requested that the actor wear his own black-framed browline glasses to deliver the appearance of “a scholarly brute” and filmed the overhead-lit character from a low angle with a wide lens, casting shadows over Lancaster’s eyes.
The effect of J.J.’s browline glasses was supposedly enhanced with a thin layer of Vaseline smeared over the lenses to prevent Lancaster from focusing his eyes as he judges his world with a perpetually blank gaze, as described in James Naremore’s Sweet Smell of Success: A BFI Film Classic.
The gold tank watch on J.J.’s wrist may have also been one of Lancaster’s own items. It has a rectangular case, a white square dial, and a textured strap in likely black leather.
J.J. Hunsecker coolly takes a drag from one of his English Ovals cigarettes as Sidney Falco eagerly sits by his side, waiting for another opportunity to “match” him, as needed.
Go Big or Go Home
After late evenings holding court as New York royalty at the famous 21 Club, J.J. Hunsecker rises dozens of stories to his swanky penthouse overlooking Manhattan, where he takes breaks from furiously typing his nicotine-fueled columns to observe his chosen “dirty town” from the balcony.
It’s a dirty town, but someone’s gotta love it…
Unfortunately for aspiring columnists hoping to live the Hunsecker high life, his “apartment building” was actually the Brill Building at 1619 Broadway on 49th Street, a commercial tower that housed offices and studios where some of the most popular American music from the 1930s to the 1960s was penned and recorded with acts ranging from the Glenn Miller Orchestra and Bobby Darin to Frankie Valli and Dionne Warwick headquartered in the building.
Nearly 90 years after it was built, the building remains a hub for the show business industry with Broadway Video, Key Brand Entertainment, and Paul Simon Music among its tenants.
How to Get the Look
J.J. Hunsecker is all power and intimidation in his dark double-breasted suits that take full advantage of using the contemporary 1950s fashions to flatter his strong physique.
Dark birdseye wool full-cut suit:
Double-breasted 4-on-1-button jacket with peak lapels, welted breast pocket, straight jetted hip pockets, 3-button cuffs, and ventless back
Flat front trousers with slim belt loops, side pockets, and turn-ups/cuffs
White dress shirt with long point collar, front placket, and double/French cuffs
Large textured square cuff links
Light-colored pinhead-textured silk tie
Slim leather belt with small square single-prong buckle
Dark leather cap-toe oxfords/balmoral shoes
Dark socks
Mid-gray felt fedora with wide black grosgrain band
Dark wool single-breasted three-button overcoat with notch lapels and patch hip pockets
Black acetate-framed “browline” eyeglasses
Gold dress watch with square white dial and black leather strap
Steve Martin as Vinnie Antonelli in My Blue Heaven (1990)
Vitals
Steve Martin as Vinnie Antonelli (aka Tod Wilkinson), ex-Mafia informant
Fryburg, California, November 1989 through summer 1990
Film:My Blue Heaven Release Date: August 17, 1990 Director: Herbert Ross Costume Designer: Joseph G. Aulisi
Background
You know, it’s dangerous for you to be here in the frozen food section… because you could melt. all. this. stuff.
Steve Martin’s smooth-talking Vinnie Antonelli finds post-Mafia lifestyle to be more and more amenable in My Blue Heaven as he builds a suburban criminal empire and seduces a floozy in the frozen aisle of his local grocery store.
Of course, long before Vinnie is able to smooth-talk Shaldeen (Carol Kane) into an impulsive marriage, he’s trying to smooth-talk his way out of a tough situation with the local D.A., Hannah Stubbs (Joan Cusack) after she has busted him with a car full of stolen merchandise… not to mention that the car itself belonged to a local minister. Vinnie is forced to make an unconvincing case to his FBI handler, Barney Coopersmith (Rick Moranis).
Barney, you got a ring of phony ministers stealing liquor. Make me a minister, I’ll go undercover, infiltrate them, we’ll nail these-
What’d He Wear?
I tend to focus on wedding outfits around the romantic (for some) holiday of St. Valentine’s Day, so Steve Martin’s gray plaid jacket for his impromptu nuptials in My Blue Heaven felt like a perfect fit as #MafiaMonday coincides with the start of this year’s #WeekOfWeddings.
This gray-on-gray buffalo plaid jacket is first seen when Martin’s Vinnie Antonelli is pulled in for his first of many arrests while in the federal witness protection program. The material’s nubby imperfections imply raw silk.
Vinnie’s single-breasted sport jacket has widely notched lapels that roll to a low two-button stance, consistent with fashion trends of the late 1980s and early ’90s. The suppressed waist adds emphasis to the padded shoulders with their roped sleeveheads, giving Vinnie’s look even more swagger to coordinate with his “wiseguy” attitude. The jacket also has a welted breast pocket, straight jetted hip pockets, three-button cuffs, and a ventless back.
For his arrest at the hands of the Fryburg Police Deparment early in the film, Vinnie wears this jacket with a solid black button-up shirt that he wears with the top button undone. The narrow point collar of the shirt is poorly balanced by the jacket’s wider lapels, but this was an unfortunate trend of the era.
And speaking of unfortunate… Vinnie looks brasher and flashier than ever for one of his many trips to the grocery store, sporting the painfully clashing combination of a bold printed shirt under his gray plaid jacket. The shirt consists of a field of blue recessed diamonds on a light blue ground. Like his black shirt, it has a narrow point collar, button cuffs, and a front placket.
The old adage is to never go grocery shopping hungry, but this jacket-and-shirt combination no doubtlessly helped Vinnie’s fellow shoppers lose any remaining appetite they may have had.
To balance the chaotic upper half of his wardrobe, Vinnie sports a pair of black double reverse-pleated trousers with belt loops, side pockets, and turn-ups (cuffs), worn with a black leather belt.
Vinnie counters his sober all-black base layer with an eye-popping plaid jacket, two-toned loafers, and gray socks. Monochromatic, yes, but far from boring.
Vinnie obviously considers himself quite the footwear expert, telling Hannah upon their first meeting: “You’re a good looking girl… except for those army shoes. No wonder he split. You know, you ought to get yourself a pair of nice high heels. Spectator pumps.”
Unsolicited fashion advice aside, it’s clear that Vinnie knows a thing or two about spectator pumps, wearing a pair of black-and-white patent leather loafers while dishing out the aforementioned tips. These unique shoes have black caps and quarters, a white vamp, and black kiltie detail over the arch. He wears them with gray socks.
Vinnie pays more attention to his shoes than his interrogator.
Clearly not afraid of the attention his gangster affectations may draw, Vinnie retains his snazzy Rolex watch and gold pinky ring while in the custody of the Federal Witness Protection Program. His Rolex DateJust appears to be a 116233 model with a stainless steel 36mm case, 18-karat yellow gold bezel, and a mixed gold and stainless “Jubilee”-style bracelet with the appropriately named Roman dial.
Go Big or Go Home – Wedding Edition
THE VENUE
“I’m in Reno!” Vinnie excitedly informs Barney, no doubt giving heart palpitations to his FBI handler not only for leaving the state but by following up with the news of his marriage to Shaldeen.
It may seem crazier than fiction, but Vinnie’s bigamous marriage (using his new, witness protection-issued identity) was actually based on a real incident from the life of Goodfellas subject Henry Hill who certainly gave his government supervisors plenty to sweat about before he was finally dropped from witness protection in 1989. It was Hill’s interviews with Nicholas Pileggi that led to Pileggi’s wife Nora Ephron developing the screenplay for My Blue Heaven.
THE REFRESHMENTS
Nary a refreshment – aside from the fleeting entertainment of a casino slot machine – is visible during Vinnie and Shaldeen’s celebration of their nuptials. Perhaps they commemorated the occasion by heating up one of the Micro Magic frozen meals from her shopping cart that drew them together in the first place.
When two people dressed like this meet by chance in a suburban grocery store, they really have no choice but to immediately marry.
NOTABLE GUESTS
Sadly, Vinnie and Shaldeen’s few hours of acquaintance prevented the couple from making any close friends before their nuptials, but Vinnie is quick to share his good news with his FBI handler Barney Coopersmith… not considering the need to inform him of the change of circumstances (and insane breach of security).
How to Get the Look
Vinnie counters his sober all-black base layer with an eye-popping plaid jacket, two-toned loafers, and gray socks. Monochromatic, yes, but far from boring.
Gray-on-gray buffalo plaid raw silk single-breasted 2-button sport jacket with notch lapels, welted breast pocket, straight jetted hip pockets, 3-button cuffs, and ventless back
Black long-sleeve shirt with point collar, front placket, and button cuffs
Black double reverse-pleated trousers with belt loops, side pockets, and turn-ups/cuffs
Black leather belt with rounded gold single-prong buckle
Black-and-white patent leather kiltie loafers
Gray socks
Rolex DateJust two-tone gold wristwatch with white Roman dial on yellow gold and stainless mixed Jubilee bracelet
Gold pinky ring with brick red oval setting
Of course, if you’re feeling inspired by Vinnie Antonelli’s pattern-colliding boldness, feel free to swap out that black shirt for a blue diamond-printed shirt… but also, you probably shouldn’t.
Are you sure he’s a minister? One of my best friends makes a living as a completely phony minister. For two bucks, I can make you a minister. Some guys steal your money, but these guys… they steal your heart.
Bing Crosby as C.K. Dexter Haven in High Society (1956)
Vitals
Bing Crosby as C.K. Dexter Haven, jazz musician
Newport, Rhode Island, Summer 1956
Film:High Society Release Date: July 17, 1956 Director: Charles Walters Costume Designer: Helen Rose
Background
Happy St. Valentine’s Day! This year’s theme for the #WeekOfWeddings seems to be impromptu nuptials that find our cheeky protagonists thrust into taking the vows without a chance to don traditional wedding attire. Today, we’re following a mischievous summer weekend among the socialites of Newport, Rhode Island, in High Society, the musical remake of The Philadelphia Story.
High Society recasts The Philadelphia Story‘s leading gents Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart with the more musically inclined Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra, respectively, though it’s interesting to note that Crosby is actually a few months older than Grant, making this surely one of the few times in movie history that a remake actually featured a performer older than his or her predecessor!
Katharine Hepburn’s role was recast with Grace Kelly, establishing High Society as the actress’ final film role before her retirement at the age of 26 upon marriage to Prince Rainier III of Monaco. In the spirit of marriage, Kelly wore her actual Cartier engagement ring from Rainier on screen.
What’d He Wear?
Other than his tuxedo, Bing Crosby’s primary wardrobe as C.K. Dexter Haven in High Society consists solely of blazers and spectator shoes, a signature look for the moneyed man of leisure in the 1950s.
Dexter’s first blazer is a navy hopsack wool (or wool-and-mohair blend) single-breasted jacket with notch lapels that roll to a two-button stance, with the buttoning point placed perfectly at the natural waist to meet the top of the trousers. Both the front buttons and the three smaller buttons on the cuffs of each sleeve are smooth gold-toned shank buttons.
The blazer has a single back vent, jetted hip pockets, and a squared patch breast pocket adorned with a shield-shaped stitched crest. The crest appears to be illustrated with a black-and-white horse on a light blue ground with a blue trim that just slightly contrasts against the darker navy of the blazer’s wool jacketing.
Does anyone know the provenance of the crest of Bing’s summer blazer?
Like many other actors of the era, Bing Crosby was known to have worn his own clothing in his films, so it’s possible that this blazer carries the crest of one of the at least 75 golf clubs to which he was a member, although the appearance of a horse (or a horse-like shape) may signify the possibility of a riding club.
Dexter’s first appearance finds him totally in leisure, smoking his pipe while enjoying the sounds of Louis Armstrong’s band. He wears a cotton open-neck shirt in a light blue and white mini-gingham check with a long point collar and button cuffs.
As in White Christmas two years earlier, Bing sports what is likely his personal timepiece, a gold wristwatch on a curved brown tooled leather strap… worn with the face on the inside of his wrist.
The next time we see Bing in this blazer, he’s wearing it with a plain white shirt, similarly styled with a long-pointed semi-spread collar, single-button rounded cuffs, and a plain front. He has also added a white pocket square, neatly folded into the breast pocket of his blazer for an added touch of formality that will come in handy for his impromptu wedding.
The happy couple?
Luckily for Dexter, this white shirt and pocket square adds a higher touch of formality to the outfit than his gingham shirt the previous day, making it far more easy for him to don Mike Connor’s repp tie and look decent enough to impulsively marry his ex-wife Tracy (Grace Kelly).
As the exuberant Spy Magazine reporter Mike Connor, Frank Sinatra wore a sharp dark navy suit with a blue-on-navy striped tie that he was all too happy to lend to Dexter. The tie’s blue “downhill” diagonal stripes are spaced about an inch apart, alternating in width over the navy ground.
Between his hastily borrowed tie and wedding to Tracy, C.K. Dexter Haven was tying more than a few knots.
Perhaps I’m partial to this outfit because Bing pairs his blazer with gray trousers, my personal preference, rather than khakis. The blazer’s first appearance, with the open-neck gingham shirt, finds it paired with light blue-gray pleated trousers. Later, when wearing a white shirt and striped tie for his re-marriage to Tracy, he sports a pair of darker gray flannel trousers.
Both pairs of gray trousers are pleated with turn-ups (cuffs). He always wears his blazer buttoned, concealing the trouser waistband.
Bing in mid-croon, sporting his navy blazer, open-neck gingham shirt, and light blue-gray trousers.
Dexter wears brown-and-white spectator oxfords, and his caddish personality corresponds to this footwear’s original “correspondent shoe” connotations as they were evidently favored by men described as “correspondents” in British divorce cases.
These particular shoes have dark chestnut brown leather medallion toe cap, heel cap, and lace panels with a white leather vamp. They appear to be full brogues but with straight toe caps rather than the wingtips commonly associated with full brouging. He wears them with charcoal gray cotton lisle socks.
Despite his snappy shoes, Dexter’s charm initially fails to recapture Tracy’s attention.
After a particularly rough pre-wedding night, Tracy Samantha Lord (Grace Kelly) is prescribed a hair of the dog recovery by her ex, C.K. Dexter Haven (Bing Crosby):
…the juice of a few fresh flowers called a Stinger. Removes the sting.
The 1950s may have been the high point of the Stinger’s popularity, appearing not only in High Society (1956) but also In a Lonely Place (1951), Patricia Highsmith’s romance novel The Price of Salt (1952), Ian Fleming’s 007 novel Diamonds are Forever (1956), and Cary Grant’s beleaguered character in Kiss Them for Me (1957)… to name a few.
The Stinger is one of many classic cocktails that all but disappeared from the American mixology scene around the 1970s. It traces its origins to, appropriately enough, the “high society” elite of Edwardian era New York City when it was considered a post-prandial digestif rather than a cocktail.
A century later, the Stinger seems to have eluded the renewed interest in classic cocktails that revived the Manhattan and Old Fashioned on the menus of hip watering holes, though it was a staple of mid-century pop culture with references to the drink appearing in novels like Diamonds are Forever, The Price of Salt, and The Spy Who Came in From the Cold as well as films including The Bishop’s Wife, In a Lonely Place, The Apartment, and the original cinematic version of this tale, The Philadelphia Story. A mention in Mad Men‘s first season failed to revive the drink to the same extent as Don Draper’s preferred Old Fashioned, and your best bet for a Stinger these days would be to make your own… so let’s explore that!
All you need for a Stinger is two central ingredients: brandy and white crème de menthe. (Green crème de menthe works in a pinch for the same taste, but it will look rather muddy… and you don’t want to be the sort of person who would offer a glass of mud to Grace Kelly, do you? Ray Milland, on the other hand…)
Ratios differ by taste palettes, of course, but common practice is a 3-to-1 ratio of cognac to crème de menthe, poured together in a mixing glass filled with ice, stirred, and strained into a chilled cocktail glass or a rocks glass over ice; the latter became a more popular practice following Prohibition when drinkers were approaching the Stinger as a traditional cocktail rather than a strictly after-dinner drink.
Bing Crosby as Grace Kelly tie the knot in High Society (1956)
How to Get the Look
Bing follows a traditional template for classy yet dressed-down leisure attire… as well as proving the outfit’s versatility when he is pulled into a more formal situation with no time or opportunity to change.
Navy blue hopsack wool/mohair single-breasted 2-button blazer with crest-embellished patch breast pocket, straight jetted hip pockets, 3-button cuffs, and single back vent
White or light blue gingham cotton shirt with long-pointed collar, plain front, and 1-button rounded cuffs
Gray flannel pleated trousers with side pockets and turn-ups/cuffs
Dark brown-and-white leather spectator oxford brogues with medallion toe-cap
Charcoal gray cotton lisle socks
Gold round-cased wristwatch with white dial on curved brown tooled leather strap (with a gold single-prong buckle)
If there’s no charming Sinatra-type around to lend you his tie in a flash, you can check out the classic repp ties from Brooks Brothers… particularly this BB#3 Rep Slim Tie in navy and light blue. Look familiar?
Mahershala Ali as Cornell “Cottonmouth” Stokes on Luke Cage (Episode 1.02: “Code of the Streets”)
Vitals
Mahershala Ali as Cornell “Cottonmouth” Stokes, mob boss and nightclub owner
Harlem, November 2015
Series:Luke Cage Episodes: “Code of the Streets” (Episode 1.02) & “Just to Get a Rep” (Episode 1.05) Streaming Date: September 30, 2016 Directors: Paul McGuigan (Episode 1.02) & Marc Jobst (Episode 1.05) Costume Designer: Stephanie Maslansky Key Tailor: Cherie Cunningham
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy birthday, Mahershala Ali! Following a multi-season stint as Remy Danton on Netflix’s House of Cards and a breakout 2016 that included his Oscar-winning role in Moonlight, Ali returned to Netflix to play the charismatic, powerful, and dangerous crime boss Cornell Stokes in Marvel’s Luke Cage.
What’d He Wear?
Flanked by his lackeys, Cornell Stokes struts into Pop’s Barbershop at the outset of the second episode wearing a silky gray three-piece suit that immediately establishes his position and his flashy confidence.
Costume designer Stephanie Maslansky, who has impressively established the signature look of Marvel’s heroes and villains across multiple Netflix series, sourced much of Cottonmouth’s wardrobe from exclusive Italian fashion houses like Dolce & Gabbana and Zegna, and this suit is no exception.
After some research, I found that Mahershala Ali appears to be wearing a Dolce & Gabbana suit similar to the “Three Piece Single-Breasted Wedding Suit” still offered by Dolce & Gabbana as of February 2018 with the hefty – but crime boss-friendly – price tag of $3,195. There are subtle style differences, notably in terms of pocket details and other smaller features, that tell us that this isn’t the exact suit worn by Ali, but it likely formed the basis for it. The suiting is a solid gray blend of 82% virgin wool and 12% silk, giving the suit its noticeable sheen under various light.
“Code of the Streets” (Episode 1.02)
Single-breasted tailored jackets with peak lapels cycle through fashion every 40 years or so, spiking in popularity in the 1930s, the 1970s, and the current decade. Cottonmouth Stokes first appeared in the original Luke Cage comic series in June 1974, and his adaptation to television in 2016 brings some of that retro mentality and “’70s kingpin” mindset to the forefront, particularly through his flashy fashion sensibilities.
This single-breasted Dolce & Gabbana suit jacket has peak lapels, though fashionably slimmer than what one would have encountered in the ’70s, that roll to the top of a medium-to-low two-button stance. The jacket is shaped with darts to build up the shoulders with its roped sleeveheads and gently suppress the waist to enhance Cottonmouth’s imposing presence. It also has long double vents, four-button cuffs, straight flapped hip pockets, and a welted breast pocket where he wears a variety of colored pocket squares to coordinate (but not match) his ties.
“Just to Get a Rep” (Episode 1.05)
The suit has a matching waistcoat (vest) with a single-breasted, five-button front with a notched bottom. Darts shape the fit through the torso with welted lower pockets in line with the fourth button down.
Note the subtle differences between Cottonmouth’s vest and the one belonging to the suit currently offered by D&G, which has jetted rather than welted pockets and a mitred notched bottom as opposed to the gentler cutaway on the bottom of Cottonmouth’s waistcoat.
The back of Cottonmouth’s waistcoat is dark gray rayon with a satin finish to match the lining of his suit jacket, with an adjustable strap and a small notch on the bottom.
The low rise of the darted-front trousers is most notable as Cottonmouth has his jacket removed following an extended period of sitting in Pop’s barber chair in “Code of the Streets” (Episode 1.02), also revealing that his trouser waistband is fitted with side-tab adjusters rather than belt loops, another alteration from the currently available D&G suit. There are slanted side pockets augmented by two welted coin pockets, and there are two jetted button-through pockets in the back. The fit is slim and straight through the legs down to the plain-hemmed bottoms.
The trousers could rise higher to hide the waistband under the waistcoat and provide a greater sense of visual harmony. To be fair, Cottonmouth has just been sitting in the barber chair for an extended period of time and clothing would shift and sag a bit in that context.
The high break of the trouser bottoms doesn’t hide Cottonmouth’s footwear, a pair of dark brown leather plain-toe derby shoes worn with black socks.
With his jacket on and trousers in place under the waistcoat, Cottonmouth’s suit looks more like a complete and coordinated garment.
For this suit’s first appearance in “Code of the Streets” (Episode 1.02), Cottonmouth wears a blue-gray and white Bengal stripe shirt with the character’s signature cutaway spread collar, plain front, and mitred cuffs. The single button on each cuff is set slightly further back from the hand than the center.
“Code of the Streets” (Episode 1.02)
Cottonmouth’s tie in “Code of the Streets” (episode 1.02) is a dull olive brown ground with a field of neatly arranged rows of squares that alternate between gray and taupe, with a black dot in the center of the latter taupe squares. Embellished with a gold shield-shaped stickpin with an emerald stone, the tie is worn in a wide Windsor knot, coordinating well with the broad tie space of the spread collar on Cottonmouth’s shirt.
“Code of the Streets” (Episode 1.02)
Three episodes later in “Just to Get a Rep” (Episode 1.05), the silky gray suit returns with a pale blue herringbone-woven cotton shirt with a subtle blue-and-gray overlapping windowpane grid check. Like his other shirt, this has a cutaway spread collar, plain front, and single-button cuffs set back from the wrist, though these cuffs are rounded on a long curve rather than mitred.
“Just to Get a Rep” (Episode 1.05)
Cottonmouth wears two ties in this episode, a dark gray textured silk tie and a blue macclesfield silk tie, both worn in Windsor knots and with a hexagonal-shaped diamond stickpin. In both instances, Cottonmouth coordinates the color of his patterned silk pocket square to his ties without committing the faux pas of an exact match.
Cottonmouth’s stylish wristwatch has a polished stainless steel case on a black leather strap. The white-bordered blue “tuxedo dial” reminded me of the Omega DeVille Hour Vision, but I’m still not sure.
“Just to Get a Rep” (Episode 1.05)
On his right pinky, Cottonmouth wears a silver ring with a set-in round blue stone.
Cottonmouth wears emerald-set earrings for most of the show’s run. In the Forbes interview, Maslansky explained that “the beautiful earrings he wears, they have emeralds in the center. He always has a subtle piece of green, somewhere, little things that reference that snake-like aspect to his character.”
Pop had better be careful.
What to Imbibe
Cottonmouth has a wall of booze in his office that would make Don Draper green with envy (or with cirrhosis.) One bottle of premium liquor that actually makes it to the crime boss’s desk in “Just to Get a Rep” (episode 1.05) is DeLeón, which markets itself as “a new level of luxury in tequila”.
Peep Cottonmouth’s DeLeon tequila in the squat bottle on his desk between he and his Biggie photo.
“DeLeón® Tequila is made from the finest 100% Highland Blue Weber agave sourced from the rich earth of the Los Altos region of Jalisco,” explains the tequila’s official website. “DeLeón achieves astonishing depth of flavor in just two distillations – allowing the tequila to retain the unique character acquired during the fermentation process. Our master distiller artfully cuts the beginning and end of the distillation, allowing only the absolute best portion, or Corazon, to find its way into every bottle, creating a subtle taste profile with unrivaled smoothness.”
It is offered in five bottlings: Platinum, Reposado, Diamante, Extra Añejo, and Leóna. Cottonmouth is sipping the Platinum, a smooth tequila blanco with a finish described as warm spices and vanilla. In certain states, you can order a bottle for $35 online.
How to Get the Look
Mahershala Ali as Cornell “Cottonmouth” Stokes on Luke Cage (Episode 1.05: “Just to Get a Rep”)
Cottonmouth Stokes is a powerful, live-by-the-moment gangster who communicates this with his trendy and flashy three-piece suit that takes some cues from classic gangster style.
Single-breasted 2-button jacket with slim peak lapels, welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, 4-button cuffs, and long double vents
Single-breasted 5-button vest with lower welted pockets and notched bottom
Flat front straight-leg trousers with side-tab adjusters, slanted side pockets, jetted button-through back pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
Striped or checked cotton dress shirt with cutaway spread collar and 1-button cuffs
Subtly patterned silk tie
Diamond stickpin
Dark brown leather plain-toe 3-eyelet derby shoes
Black cotton lisle socks
Polished stainless steel wristwatch with round blue-and-white dial on black leather strap
Silver pinky ring with round blue set-in stone
Emerald-set silver earrings
The Gun
After the explosive climax of “Who’s Gonna Take the Weight?” (episode 1.03) found him attempting to take out his prey with a missile launcher, Cottonmouth Stokes has returned to a somewhat more practical sidearm two episodes later in “Just to Get a Rep” (episode 1.05) when he is seen picking up a blued 1911-series pistol from his desk and dispatching a comrade with a single shot. This weapon has been identified by IMFDB as a Smith & Wesson SW1911SC.
Cottonmouth deals with an associate’s unhelpful suggestion.
Despite James Bond’s insistence in Dr. No that a rival’s 1911-style pistol was a Smith & Wesson (and a six-shot capacity one, at that), the Massachusetts manufacturer only entered the 1911 game in the 21st century with the introduction of the Smith & Wesson SW1911 in 2003. The product line has been expanded over the last 15 years to include a number of variants that customize the weapon for the ultimate user experience while remaining true to John Browning’s original M1911 design.
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out Luke Cage on Netflix! Non-Netflix subscribers can also find the first season available for purchase at Amazon.
Robert Mitchum as Philip Marlowe in The Big Sleep (1978)
Vitals
Robert Mitchum as Philip Marlowe, American private investigator
London, September 1977
Film:The Big Sleep Release Date: March 13, 1978 Director: Michael Winner Costume Designer: Ron Beck
Background
More than three decades after Bogart and Bacall lit up the screen in The Big Sleep, Raymond Chandler’s seminal pulp detective novel was reimagined for the contemporary setting of late 1970s England with ultimate silver screen tough guy Robert Mitchum in the lead role as Raymond Chandler’s cynical private eye, Philip Marlowe.
We catch up here with Marlowe the morning after he takes his case as he joins the police in their investigation of the Sternwood family’s chauffeur, dead in an apparent accident that soon reveals itself to be murder. Following a few leads takes Marlowe to a flat where he encounters blackmailer Joe Brody (Edward Fox), femme fatale Agnes Lozelle (Joan Collins), General Sternwood’s flighty youngest daughter Camilla (Candy Clark), and trigger-happy gunsel Karl Lundgren (Simon Fisher-Turner)… all of whom armed with a handgun but, as Marlowe wryly notes, no brains to boot.
What’d He Wear?
Philip Marlowe arrives at the docks in a dark gray sport jacket with a tonal plaid just subtle enough that it is barely discernible in non-closeup shots. The jacket has fashionably broad notch lapels, though not as comically wide as “disco suit” lapels seen in the latter years of the ’70s and just broad enough to coordinate with the larger shirt collar and wider tie.
The jacket rolls to a medium-low two-button stance that perfectly meets the trousers at Mitchum’s growing waist line. The jacket has a welted breast pocket for Marlowe’s blue silk display kerchief, slanted flapped hip pockets, and a flapped ticket pocket on the right side that slants back on the same axis as the top button.
Unlike his English colleagues, Marlowe sees no need for a dramatic topcoat.
Mitchum wears a blue-gray melange cotton shirt made by legendary London shirtmaker Frank Foster with a metallic sheen, possibly indicative of high-twist cotton. The shirt has a tall and fashionably long-pointed semi-spread collar, a wide front placket with mother-of-pearl buttons, and single-button rounded cuffs.
Marlowe treats himself to an evening sandwich.
Marlowe’s tie consists of a field of small white polka dots on a dull dark navy ground. The tie is knotted in a four-in-hand and flares out to a wide blade that Mitchum keeps generally contained by his buttoned jacket.
Mitchum wears a pair of gray flat front trousers in a mixed-yarn pick-and-pick (or “sharkskin”) wool. The flat front trousers have slanted side pockets and jetted button-through back pockets, and they are worn with a black leather belt that closes with a polished gold-toned single-prong buckle.
Mitchum unbuttons and unwinds – with his whiskey and firearms – after a long day.
The trousers have an appropriately full fit, though the plain-hemmed bottoms are strongly flared with a full break all too reminiscent of bell-bottoms, making them the most dated (and, not coincidentally, least attractive) part of this otherwise classic outfit.
The bell-bottomed trousers take an outfit that would have worked three decades earlier in Bogie’s day and plunge it headfirst into the 1970s.
Draped by his voluminous trouser bottoms are Marlowe’s black calf loafers which have medallion perforated wingtips and high vamps. You can find wingtip loafers available from many modern retailers including this pair from Stacy Adams.
Normally, trouser bottoms like these would keep Marlowe’s socks hidden to the viewer, but the action sequence at Joe Brody’s flat gives us a brief glimpse of dark navy socks, likely made from the usual cotton lisle blend.
Marlowe subdues the trigger-happy gunsel Karl Lundgren.
Robert Mitchum had been a decades-long Rolex wearer in real life by the time he played Philip Marlowe in The Big Sleep, and he appears to be wearing his own stainless Rolex DateJust with a silver dial and steel Jubilee bracelet on screen; he had also worn this watch four years earlier in Sydney Pollack’s The Yakuza (1975).
Robert Mitchum and Joan Collins between takes. Spot the Rolex on Mitchum’s left wrist.
The thick tortoise-framed glasses that Marlowe wore with his blue suit for his very effective disguise make another brief appearance at Arthur Gwynn Geiger’s store.
Note Marlowe’s blue silk pocket square, echoing the less vivid shades of blue in his shirt and tie.
How to Get the Look
Robert Mitchum shows how a gray-anchored palette can still make an outfit interesting while also echoing the signature weather of his London environment.
Dark gray tonal plaid single-breasted 2-button sportcoat with broad notch lapels, welted breast pocket, slanted flapped hip pockets, slanted flapped right-side ticket pocket, 3-button cuffs, and single back vent
Blue-gray cotton dress shirt with long-pointed semi-spread collar, front placket, and 1-button rounded cuffs
Dark navy polka-dot tie
Gray pick-and-pick wool flat front trousers with belt loops, slanted side pockets, button-through jetted back pockets, and flared plain-hemmed bottoms
Black leather belt with polished gold-toned single-prong buckle
Black leather high-vamp wingtip slip-on loafers
Dark navy cotton lisle socks
Rolex DateJust steel-cased wristwatch with silver dial and steel “Jubilee” bracelet
The Gun
One unique gun that enters the story around this point is the stainless Beretta Minx carried by Camilla Sternwood (Candy Clark) and dropped during her tussle at Joe Brody’s flat. Marlowe eventually gets his hands on the Beretta, using it to threaten the intrusive gunsel Karl Lundgren (Simon Fisher-Turner) who tried to break up the party.
Marlowe catches up with the young Karl Lundgren and holds him at gunpoint.
The Beretta Minx (M4) is a longer barreled variant of the Beretta Model 950 subcompact semi-automatic pistol, with the tip-up barrel extended to 3.75 inches. Its low-recoil .22 Short rimfire round was the first American metallic cartridge, developed in 1857 for the Smith & Wesson Model 1 at a time when most revolvers fired cap-and-ball ammunition. It was quickly phased out by larger and more powerful rounds, but the fast and quiet .22 Short remained popular for target and sport shooting as well as for hunting small game like raccoons.
Camilla’s Beretta Minx falls to the ground.
The Beretta Minx never attained the level of popularity as the more compact Model 950 Jetfire, and the final nail in the Minx’s coffin was placed when it was restricted from import to the U.S. in 1968. Production was swiftly ceased after 12 years.
As opposed to Robert Mitchum, who dresses to flatter his increasing age (and girth), there is one gentleman who briefly appears on screen that disregards much of the conventional wisdom regarding how a suit should fit.
Not only should the cop in the gray suit not have the jacket buttoned at all, but committing the faux pas of fastening both buttons just reveals the spare tire he’s smuggling around his waist.
Tommy Lee Jones as Sheriff Ed Tom Bell in No Country for Old Men (2007)
BAMF Style is delighted to present another post from the masterful pen of contributor “W.T. Hatch”. Enjoy!
Vitals
Tommy Lee Jones as Sheriff Ed Tom Bell
Terrell County, Texas, Summer 1980
Film:No Country for Old Men Release Date: November 9, 2007 Director: Joel Coen & Ethan Coen Costume Designer: Mary Zophres
Background
The crime you see now, it’s hard to even take its measure.
Sheriff Ed Tom Bell first won election as the sheriff of Terrell County, Texas, when he was just 25 years old. A World War II veteran, Bell saw firsthand the horrors of that particular conflict and likely sought solace in serving his community back home. Still on duty in the summer of 1980, what is truly surprising about Sheriff Bell – and the other law enforcement officers in the movie – is how little gear they carry while on duty when compared to today’s law enforcement professionals. Bell, for example, carries just his trusted M1911 pistol sans protective vest, handcuffs, baton, pepper spray, taser, or even a spare magazine.
What’d He Wear?
Terrell County is an enormous area of some 2,300 miles with a population of just 1,600 people in 1980. Ed Tom’s department is very small in comparison to the county’s size requiring him to actively patrol, investigate, and enforce the law from his squad car, horseback, and on foot. From a pragmatic standpoint, Ed Tom’s uniform choices reflect the scope and breadth of his responsibilities. Viewed through a more symbolic lens, Ed Tom’s duty uniform colors match the barren Texas landscape because Bell is as much a part of the land as his job as a lawman has become a part of his soul. Sheriff Bell’s clothing evokes both the traditional image of a Texas county sheriff but also pays tribute to his wartime military service. Indeed, the combination of light brown shirt and dark brown trousers – complete with the aforementioned M1911 pistol – are strikingly similar to the M1937 uniform issued to U.S. Army personnel in WWII. (See BAMF Style articles on Major Reisman and Wardaddy Collier for more information.)
Deputy Wendell (Garret Dillahunt) accompanies Sheriff Ed Tom Bell on horseback.
Ed Tom wears a tan-colored cotton long-sleeve shirt with white plastic buttons made by Flying R Ranchwear. The shirt is simple in appearance but does have a subdued Western yoke design on both the front and back. The shirt has two functional chest pockets, a seven-button placket and a single button at the wrists.
Wendell: “It’s a mess, ain’t it, sheriff?” Ed Tom: “If it ain’t, it’ll do till the mess gets here.”
In keeping with his minimalist approach to law enforcement equipment, Bell wears a Terrell County Sheriff patch on either shoulder but no American flag, name plate, awards, or other accoutrements more commonly found on a contemporary police uniform. Above his heart, however, Ed Tom wears a gold star shaped sheriff’s badge. The metal device is 2.25″ long and affixed to his shirt with two pins and backing damits. The words SHERIFF and TERRELL COUNTY are embossed on the badge.
“You know Charlie Walser’s got that place out east of Sanderson? You know how he used to slaughter beeves, hit ’em right there with a maul… truss ’em and slit their throats?”
Ed Tom wears a pair of dark brown denim jeans in a straight leg cut. These pants have four pockets and are closed by a zipper and brass button. Brown denim is the perfect color and material for a West Texas sheriff. The dark color hides the inevitable windblown dust and denim affords protection from the harsh landscape.
Bell uses a tooled dark brown leather belt, albeit in a lighter shade then his trousers, with silver hardware to carry his sidearm. The belt appears to be the popular Western-style Ranger belt that is appropriate to the character and movie’s location. In an uncharacteristic clothing choice given his age and profession, Sheriff Bell does not wear a separate gun belt, instead using a small brown leather holster to carry his M1911 pistol.
“Oh… now that’s aggravating.”
Like virtually all of the movie’s male characters, Ed Tom wears brown leather cowboy boots, the details of which are mostly hidden by his pants.
Sheriff Bell favors a white-colored straw cowboy hat with a simple, thin brown leather hatband perfect for the West-by-God-Texas summer heat. In addition to providing much needed shade, the hat cools the wearer with three small ventilation holes on each side of the crown. A true Texas gentleman, Sheriff Bell generally removes his hat while indoors, greeting a lady, or delivering bad news to the bereaved. The exact manufacturer is unknown, but Ed Tom likely wears a Stetson or Resistol brand hat.
Ed Tom is not much of a man for accessories, eschewing even a wedding ring. He does, however, make use of black plastic frame reading glasses whilst enjoying his breakfast in the local diner and attempting to make sense of the day’s news.
“Here last week they found this couple out in California. They rent out rooms for old people, kill’ em, bury’ em in the yard, cash their social security checks. Well, they’d torture ’em first, I don’t know why. Maybe the television set was broke.”
On his left wrist, Bell also wears a gold analog watch with a blue-and-white round dial and hash marks in place of numbers. The watch has a matching gold metal wrist band.
“You go see Charlie, he still can’t reach up with his right hand for his hat… Point bein’, even in the contest between man and steer the issue is not certain.”
How to Get the Look
Ed Tom Bell’s uniform is ideal for chasing psychotic killers across the Texas landscape… or equally fitting for a day of hiking, horseback riding, or other outdoor and safer activities.
Tan cotton long-sleeved shirt with Terrell County Sheriff’s Department patches and white plastic buttons on the sleeves and placket
Brown denim duty pants with four buttons
Brown leather Ranger-style belt with silver hardware
Brown leather cowboy boots
White straw cowboy hat with leather headband
Gold-colored metal analog wristwatch with round blue-and-white dial
Black plastic reading glasses
Fans should be aware that Tommy Lee Jones’ screen worn costume is available for private purchase here.
The Gun
Ed Tom is an aging man who views the past as a simpler and better time. While he is cognizant of the changes in his world, Bell attempts to emulate his predecessor sheriffs’ approach to keeping the peace. In his opening dialogue, Bell reflects back on the “old time sheriffs” – many of whom did not feel the need to carry a firearm and wonders how they would fare in modern society. Bell’s selection of a Colt Series 70 Combat Government Model is indicative of his military past, attempt to carry on traditional sheriffin’, and a nod to the ever-present violence he is charged to keep at bay.
Although Bell never fires his weapon throughout the movie, he is certain in the knowledge his target will go down, and stay down, when hit by the venerable and reliable .45 caliber round.
Edward Fox as “The Jackal”, mysterious professional assassin
Southern France, near Grasse, August 1963
Film:The Day of the Jackal Release Date: May 16, 1973 Director: Fred Zinnemann Costume Design: Joan Bridge, Rosine Delamare, and Elizabeth Haffenden
Background
The only time we see Edward Fox’s enigmatic Jackal in a non-earthtone ensemble outside of his numerous disguises is this brief interlude for a summer evening in the south of France, near Grasse, as he chats up Colette (Delphine Seyrig) in a hotel parlor. His seduction induces Colette into his cadre of temporarily useful – but ultimately disposable – assets as he kills his way across Europe to his ultimate target.
What’d He Wear?
Although not his usual colors, The Jackal dresses in his signature manner of a shirt unbuttoned at the neck to reveal a patterned day cravat. In this case, it’s a black-on-white printed paisley silk neckerchief, the same that he had previously worn in Genoa with his cream striped shirt and tan gabardine suit jacket.
The Jackal also wears a striped shirt here, but in a light shade of blue with thin satin stripes that add a silky sheen. The color and details are similar to the shirt worn by James Caan during Sonny Corleone’s “last stand” in The Godfather, released the previous year. The Jackal’s shirt has a point collar, front placket, and squared double (French) cuffs.
A bored summer night for an assassin in the south of France. Who can’t relate to that?
The Jackal wears a soft blue sleeveless cardigan that appears to be cashmere. The cardigan has five smoke plastic buttons up the front which he wears totally open, and there is a patch pocket on each hip.
He wears a pair of dark navy flat front trousers that rise to his natural waist. The trousers have frogmouth front pockets and a straight fit through the legs to the plain-hemmed bottoms. He wears them with a black leather belt that closes with a silver-toned single-prong buckle.
The Jackal appears to be wearing something (a key?) in the right-hand front pocket of his trousers, attached to a thin silver chain over his belt and into his waistband.
As this is The Jackal’s only non-earth-tone outfit (when not in disguise), it’s also the only instance of his deviating from brown shoes in favor of black shoes, a pair of black lace-ups that he wears with gray socks.
This would have been a bad time for The Jackal to blow his cover in front of Colette and start flipping through an issue of Assassin’s Weekly.
The Jackal wears his usual plain yellow gold wristwatch with a round case, light gold dial, and brown leather strap.
How to Get the Look
The Jackal abandons his usual earth-tones in favor of shades of blue for this dressed-down weekend ensemble that inspires a sense of leisure in luxury.
Light blue satin-striped shirt with point collar, front placket, and squared double/French cuffs
Black-on-white printed paisley silk day cravat
Blue cashmere sleeveless cardigan sweater with five-button front and patch-style hip pockets
Dark navy flat front trousers with belt loops, frogmouth front pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
Black leather belt with rounded silver-toned single-prong buckle
Black leather lace-up shoes
Gray socks
Yellow gold wristwatch with round light gold dial and brown leather strap
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out the movie and read Frederick Forsyth’s thrilling 1971 novel.
James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano in The Sopranos episode “Meadowlands” (Episode 1.04)
Vitals
James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano, Jersey mob boss and conflicted family man
New Jersey, Fall 1999
Series:The Sopranos Episodes: – “Meadowlands” (Episode 1.04), dir. John Patterson, aired 1/31/1999
– “The Knight in White Satin Armor” (Episode 2.12), dir. Allen Coulter, aired 4/2/2000
– “Employee of the Month” (Episode 3.04), dir. John Patterson, aired 3/18/2001
– “All Due Respect” (Episode 5.13), dir. John Patterson, aired 6/6/2004 Creator: David Chase Costume Designer: Juliet Polcsa
Background
According to the list of “who knew?” observances, February 27th is National Cigar Day! To commemorate this celebration of Winston Churchill, Ulysses Grant, and Mark Twain’s favorite past time, BAMF Style explores one of my favorite cigar smokers of the small screen, Tony Soprano.
So what is Tony’s preferred cigar? We’ve seen him gift a box of Montecristos, and the second season finds him lighting up Macanudos before switching to what appears to be CAO L’Anniversaire Robusto in the third season. (If you’ve observed any other cigars smoked on The Sopranos, let everyone know in the comments section!)
Today’s post goes back to the beginning, when Tony Soprano is balancing the prospect of a mob war with his stubborn Uncle Junior (Dominic Chianese) with the demands of his therapy and family life. If ever there was a time for a man to need a cigar!
What’d He Wear?
The fourth episode of The Sopranos, “Meadowlands”, features Tony Soprano in an outfit that he would intermittently return to through the series’ run, pairing a black odd jacket with a dressed-down shirt and earth-tone slacks. Interestingly, this combination is almost always worn in tandem with one of Tony’s therapy sessions.
Tony’s black wool single-breasted jacket in “Meadowlands” has notch lapels that roll to a two-button front, straight flapped hip pockets, and a welted breast pocket where he wears a gold printed silk pocket square.
Heeding Junior’s advice to “come heavy” before their next meeting, Tony checks the load in his 9mm FEG pistol…
Men of James Gandolfini’s size tend to prefer pleated trousers for their roominess over the hips, and Tony wears a pair of khaki slacks with double reverse pleats. These trousers have narrow belt loops for his black leather belt, side pockets, and turn-ups (cuffs) on the bottoms.
…Tony then stashes the pistol in the back of his trouser waistband, hoping that he won’t need it but fearing the worst when working against his excessively proud uncle.
Tony’s shoes are the same black calf leather derbies that he had worn for his previous confrontation with Uncle Junior in the same episode when he wears wearing his gray suit with a black shirt and tie. These shoes have a perforated cap toe and five lace eyelets. He wears them with black cotton lisle socks.
Tony’s patterned silk polo shirt, also briefly worn sans jacket in “Boca” (Episode 1.09), consists of a print of broken gray rectangles and black hash marks on an olive-taupe ground. The shirt’s twill collar, ribbed sleeve ends, and inner placket are all the same solid olive-taupe color. Tony wears the three-button “plain front” placket both buttoned to the neck and with the top button undone.
Prozac time!
Tony sports both of his usual rings, a gold ring with diamond-and-ruby clusters on his right pinky and a plain gold wedding band on the third finger on his left hand. On his right wrist, Tony wears a gold chain-link bracelet.
Tony’s watch, an 18-karat yellow gold Rolex “President” Day-Date 18238 is worn on his left wrist. This classic watch has a 36mm yellow gold case, a champagne-colored dial, and a heavy Oyster three-piece link bracelet which gives the timepiece its “President” moniker. Touted by Rolex as its “most prestigious” model since 1956, when it was famously worn by then-U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower, the Rolex President is a fitting choice for a powerful man in a leadership position like Tony Soprano.
Tony uses his aged uncle’s pride as a negotiating tactic, quietly arguing for more control in the middle of a congratulatory embrace.
Unseen here but almost certainly present is the gold 18″-long open-link chain necklace with a St. Jerome pendant that Tony always wears.
Beyond Season 1…
As I mentioned, the black odd jacket and earth-tone slacks would come back from time to time over the course of The Sopranos. Certain elements remained the same: a black single-breasted jacket, an earth-toned shirt always worn sans tie, earth-toned pleated trousers, and black derby shoes.
The outfit’s next appearance was the penultimate episode of the second season, “The Knight in White Satin Armor” (Episode 2.12), when Tony shows up in therapy wearing clothing that is likely bigger than his first season garb to accommodate Gandolfini’s increasing size. Tony wears a black three-button jacket and taupe pleated trousers. His black derby shoes have a split-toe unlike the perforated cap-toe of his first season footwear.
Tony also wears a melange oatmeal mock-neck shirt, a style that combines the aesthetic of a crew-neck sweatshirt with the lightweight comfort of a T-shirt. It’s slightly dressier than either of those garments, but it’s still less formal than a collared shirt so Tony foregoes a pocket square with this outfit.
“The Knight in White Satin Armor” (Episode 2.12): Tony’s most dressed-down version of the black odd jacket and earthy slacks ensemble.
In all future appearances of this outfit aesthetic, Tony eschews pullover shirts in favor of button-up shirts. Costume designer Juliet Polcsa confirmed in a September 2014 interview with The Independent that “less polo shirts became more of a necessity as Jim Gandolfini gained more weight. He wasn’t comfortable in knits that clung to him.”
Thus, by the time of “Employee of the Month” (Episode 3.04), Tony arrives at his therapy appointment with Dr. Melfi wearing a silky brown shirt with a plain front, breast pocket, and button cuffs. Much of the character’s wardrobe overlapped between seasons two and three, so he seems to be wearing the same larger black three-button jacket as he did in “The Knight in White Satin Armor”, this time with brown double-reverse pleated trousers and an olive silk pocket square.
“Employee of the Month” (Episode 3.04): The silky texture of the shirt is all that keeps Tony’s base layer from resembling a UPS uniform.
The most sinister incarnation of the black odd jacket and earthy trousers arrives for the outfit’s final observed appearance. Even for a violent mob-centric show, The Sopranos had taken a decidedly dark turn by the time of “All Due Respect” (Episode 5.13), reflected by Tony’s all-black upper half. He has graduated to an even larger black jacket, this one with a two-button front and three-button cuffs, worn with a silky black shirt with a plain front and mitred two-button cuffs.
“All Due Respect” (Episode 5.13)
Tony wears another pair of taupe brown slacks with double reverse pleats and cuffed bottoms. His cotton lisle socks are a close match for the trouser color, continuing the leg-line into his black derby shoes. His finishing touch is a black silk pocket square with a tan-and-taupe pattern, unifying all of the colors in the outfit.
“All Due Respect” (Episode 5.13)
How to Get the Look
James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano in The Sopranos episode “Employee of the Month” (Episode 3.04), following his usual template for wearing a black odd jacket with earth-toned trousers, silk pocket square, and dressed-down shirt.
Black suits and jackets are often associated with mobsters. It’s interesting to see the difference that color makes when comparing Tony Soprano’s black odd jacket and slacks with the more traditional navy blazer and khakis… and thus determining what his diversion from this norm says about how he balances his own image with that of a “legitimate businessman”.
Black wool single-breasted 2-button jacket with notch lapels, welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, 3-button cuffs, and ventless back
Earth-toned short-sleeve polo or long-sleeve button-up shirt
Taupe or khaki double reverse-pleated slacks with belt loops, side pockets, and turn-ups (cuffs)
Black leather belt with silver-toned single-prong buckle
Black leather perforated cap-toe 5-eyelet derby shoes
Black cotton lisle socks
White ribbed cotton sleeveless undershirt
Rolex President Day-Date 118238 yellow gold wristwatch
Gold open-link chain bracelet
Gold pinky ring with ruby and diamond stones
Gold wedding band
Gold open-link chain necklace with round St. Jerome pendant
The Gun
Having been warned by his Uncle Junior to “come heavy or not at all” to their next meeting, Tony packs heat before entering Junior’s hangout. The pistol that Tony loads and slips into the back of his trouser waistband has been identified by IMFDB and confirmed by The Golden Closet’s records to be a FEG R9, a double-action Hungarian copy of the classic Browning Hi-Power.
Tony prepares for the worst.
After decades in the design phase, the single-action Browning Hi-Power was introduced by Belgian manufacturer Fabrique Nationale (FN) in 1935 and led the way for the following generation of “Wonder Nines,” a moniker given to semi-automatic pistols chambered in 9x19mm Parabellum with staggered magazines designed to carry nearly double the capacity of their predecessors.
As it was introduced in the years leading up to World War II, the Hi-Power design was a hot commodity among both Allies and Axis, with the Germans taking control of the FN factory after they occupied Belgium in 1940. Many countries took a stab at producing their own copies of the Browning Hi-Power, including Canada, India, and Hungary.
The Hungarian firm Fegyver- és Gépgyár (FEG) may be better known to the world now for its HVAC units than its firearms, but it produced its own variants of the Browning Hi-Power, the P9M and the PJK-9HP, during the Cold War. During the 1990s, FEG began exporting its products to the United States, including the single-action FP9 and traditional double-action P9R and R9 variants.
The Sopranos used at least one of the latter, a FEG R9, during the first season. It was first seen in “Meadowlands” (Episode 1.04) when Tony packed one before his meeting with Uncle Junior and again in “I Dream of Jeannie Cusamano” (Episode 1.13) when Paulie is gunning down one of Junior’s guys in the woods.
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out the entire series… and celebrate National Cigar Day accordingly!
The Quote
My uncle, he’s got me in a box where I gotta do something I don’t want to do. Then there’s my mother. I pay four grand a month for this place, and she acts like I’m an Eskimo pushing her out to sea.
Lee Marvin as Charlie Strom, professional mob hitman
Los Angeles, Fall 1963
Film:The Killers Release Date: July 7, 1964 Director: Don Siegel Costume Designer: Helen Colvig
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy first day of March! The observance of St. Patrick’s Day this month means plenty of focus on the “luck o’ the Irish”, so today’s post explores a suit sporting the “clover lapel”, a soft type of notch lapel named for its semblance to two leaves of a clover plant.
One character who took advantage of this unique but subtle type of lapel was Charlie Strom, the paid assassin who subverts “movie hitman” tropes by letting his curiosity get the better of him… why did Johnny North give up so easily? Bothered by this incongruity, Charlie and his partner Lee (Clu Gulager) set out to find the truth.
What’d He Wear?
The clover lapel is essentially a notch lapel with softly rounded corners rather than sharp edges. A “half clover” lapel features a standard corner with sharp edges but the bottom edge of the lapel is rounded. The full clover lapel is rounded on both the top and bottom corners of the notch.
Though incarnations of the lapel can be seen in photos and footage from around the turn of the 20th century, the “clover” term to describe a notch lapel first entered the sartorial lexicon around spring of 1927 when it was noted as the latest trend among collegiate Bostonians.
The Killers features Lee Marvin in two suits with clover-notch lapels. The first, his gray silk suit, has half clover lapels. For the final scenes of the film, Marvin’s Charlie Strom wears a dark but vivid navy blue suit with full clover notch lapels with rounded corners on both the top and bottom of the notch. The notch gorges themselves are very shallow in accordance with mid-’60s fashions taking a turn toward the slim and narrow.
Note the gently rounded notches on Charlie Strom’s lapels. Combined with the shallow gorges, the final effect is almost closer to a shawl collar than a traditional notch lapel.
Charlie’s navy single-breasted suit jacket has a two-button front, a besom breast pocket, and jetted hip pockets that slightly slant toward the back. The sleeveheads are roped, double vents are short, and the sleeves appear to be finished with two-button cuffs like his other suit jackets.
Charlie Strom cuts a killer profile in his well-fitting navy suit.
Charlie’s matching flat front suit trousers have slightly slanted side pockets, jetted back pockets with single-button loops to close, and belt loops through which he wears a black leather belt with a silver-toned single-prong buckle.
A mahogany leather holster is worn on the back right side of his belt and tucked into the same back trouser pocket… armed with one hell of a backup piece, a pearl-handled Colt .45 Single Action Army revolver, also known as the “Peacemaker”. The holster appears to have a brass snap, though it’s worn unfastened to make room for this large weapon.
Charlie’s trousers have a straight leg with turn-ups (cuffs) that have a moderate break, revealing the dark navy cotton lisle socks that nicely continue the trouser line into his shoes.
Charlie and Lee listen to Sheila (Angie Dickinson) sharing the tale of Johnny North.
Charlie’s shoes appear to be the same black calf plain-toe derby shoes with two lace eyelets that he has worn through most of the film.
Charlie spills red paint, er, blood onto his black leather derby shoes.
Charlie’s white cotton dress shirt has a spread collar, plain front, breast pocket, and single-button squared cuffs. He has a habit of matching his ties to his suits, and this slim and straight dark navy silk tie is no exception, knotted in the Windsor style to fill the tie space of his shirt’s spread collar. A white loop tag is briefly seen on the back of the tie as he staggers from Sheila’s house.
A man of his era, Charlie wears his usual dark gray felt short-brimmed fedora with a wide charcoal grosgrain ribbon that matches the piping along the edges of the hat.
Charlie’s stainless dive watch appears to be a classic Rolex Submariner, which had been introduced a decade earlier at the Basel Watch Fair in 1954. Charlie’s watch has a black bezel and a black dial and is worn on a stainless Oyster-style link bracelet.
Based on the watch details including the bezel and the lack of “shoulders” supporting the “small crown”, it appears to be a ref. 5508 model that was introduced concurrent with the ref. 5512 “small crown” chronometer in 1958. The ref. 5508 was considered the standard Submariner model until it was supplanted by the non-chronometer 5513 Submariner introduced in 1962.
Charlie Strom takes aim.
Outside, Charlie briefly wears his super-’60s brown plastic sunglasses with their dark green lenses, though these shades are best seen with his gray silk suit.
Lee Marvin as Charlie Strom with a “suppressed” Smith & Wesson Model 27 revolver in The Killers (1964)
How to Get the Look
Lee Marvin in The Killers shows that there’s no need to sacrifice classic simplicity for the sake of looking distinctive and sleek.
Navy suit, consisting of:
Single-breasted 2-button jacket with slim “clover” notch lapels, welted breast pocket, slanted jetted hip pockets, 2-button cuffs, and short double rear vents
Flat front trousers with belt loops, side pockets, jetted back pockets with button-loops, and turn-ups/cuffed bottoms
White dress shirt with spread collar, plain front, breast pocket, and 1-button squared cuffs
Dark navy silk necktie
Black leather 2-eyelet cap-toe derby shoes
Dark navy cotton lisle socks
Gray felt short-brimmed fedora with wide charcoal grosgrain ribbon and edges
Brown plastic-framed sunglasses with dark green lenses
Rolex Submariner 5508 stainless dive watch with black dial and black rotating bezel on stainless Oyster-style link bracelet
The Guns
An iconic image from The Killers remains the two photos seen above of a mortally wounded Lee Marvin raising his comically suppressed revolver before firing the fatal shots from his .357 Magnum into the man and woman who had conspired against him.
The weapon itself is a blued Smith & Wesson Model 27 double-action revolver, Charlie Strom’s sidearm of choice throughout The Killers and often featured with its somewhat silly-looking “soup can” suppressor. The idea of a silenced revolver is appealing to the creative teams behind movies and TV shows, though the gas that would escape between the cylinder and barrel as a shot is fired makes the idea of a “silenced revolver” impractical.
Smith & Wesson had introduced the .357 Magnum cartridge in 1935 as American firearms companies were dueling it out to develop the strongest ammunition for law enforcement to use against the growing scourge of desperadoes like John Dillinger, “Pretty Boy” Floyd, and Clyde Barrow who had been wreaking havoc on local police with high-powered weapons stolen from military arsenals and modified to do even greater damage. The .357 Magnum was almost immediately well received for its power, its reliability, and its versatility as many revolvers chambered for .357 Magnum could also fire the venerable .38 Special round. Several Smith & Wesson revolvers were chambered for .357 Magnum by the time the company started numbering its models in the 1950s, with the large carbon-steel N-framed .357 Magnum designated as the “Model 27”.
Charlie Strom checks his “suppressed” Smith & Wesson Model 27 before leaving to confront Jack Browning. Note the Single Action Army holstered in his back trouser pocket.
Charlie’s decision to carry a second sidearm for backup is certainly not unusual, as many real-life policemen (and movie hitmen) have been known to do the same. However, it’s his choice of weapons that sets him apart from the pack as Charlie chooses to carry the large, heavy, and powerful Colt Single Action Army revolver, a single-action six-shooter that recalls the days of cowboys and rogue sheriffs in the latter years of the 18th century when it was known throughout the American West simply as the “Peacemaker”.
We never see Charlie draw his Single Action Army, but the weapon’s distinctive profile would not be lost on firearms experts viewing the film. It’s a surprising choice, given Charlie’s penchant for efficiency. However, he is the sort of hitman who struts onto a crime scene wearing a tailored silk suit, so perhaps he would be the type to carry a pearl-handled single-action .45 Colt revolver as a backup weapon… though, as even General George S. Patton said, “only a pimp in a Louisiana whorehouse carries pearl-handled revolvers.”
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out the movie. The Criterion Collection offers a dual-pack with the original 1946 version starring Burt Lancaster as well as this 1964 update… which was also notable for being Ronald Reagan’s final movie before entering politics. As his only truly villainous screen role, Reagan reportedly regretted doing the film, though it was Lee Marvin’s personal favorite at the time of its release.
Matt Bomer as Monroe Stahr on The Last Tycoon (Episode 9: “Oscar, Oscar, Oscar”)
Vitals
Matt Bomer as Monroe Stahr, charming studio wunderkind
Hollywood, fall 1936 and March 1937
Series:The Last Tycoon Episodes:
– “Pilot” (Episode 1, dir. Billy Ray)
– “Oscar, Oscar, Oscar” (Episode 9, dir. Billy Ray) Streaming Date: July 28, 2017 Developed By: Billy Ray Costume Designer: Janie Bryant
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
It’s Oscars night!
The Last Tycoon, Amazon Video’s gone-too-soon stylish ode to Hollywood’s Golden Age, ended its singular season during the 1937 Academy Awards. Interestingly, the 9th Academy Award ceremony was held on March 4, 1937, exactly 81 years ago tonight!
In real life, MGM’s The Great Ziegfield took home the coveted Best Picture prize, but that film was neglected in The Last Tycoon‘s fictional timeline as Brady-American’s tearjerker Angels on the Avenue faces off against real-life nominees Anthony Adverse, Libeled Lady, San Francisco, and Three Smart Girls.
But I’m getting ahead of myself… the first episode of The Last Tycoon finds slick Hollywood producer Monroe Stahr at a jazzy reception. Monroe is considered the best in the biz, but he’s not above sitting among his writers and hearing their thoughts of him firsthand… and dishing it right back. The night is also ripe for romance as a recently widowed Monroe shares his first dance with Kathleen Moore (Dominique McElligott), an alluring waitress from a local diner. Of course, he must also field advances from his boss’ ambitious daughter Celia (Lily Collins), who finds the time to pitch him an intriguing anti-Nazi espionage film in between taking passes at him.
Of course, Monroe’s heart is fragile in more ways than one. Real-life ’30s studio wunderkind Irving Thalberg had provided F. Scott Fitzgerald with literary inspiration for the character of Monroe Stahr, including Thalberg’s reputation as “a boy wonder” and the congenital heart disease that eventually sealed his fate at the age of 37. Thalberg actually appears as a character in The Last Tycoon, meeting his demise shortly after his appearance and reminding Monroe of his own uncertain future.
Eight months later, it’s now Oscars night in Hollywood with George Jessel hosting at downtown L.A.’s Biltmore Hotel. Monroe and Kathleen’s romance blossomed into an engagement… and quickly fizzled as her dishonest nature was violently unmasked while relations between Monroe and his boss Pat Brady (Kelsey Grammer) have deteriorated beyond hope. It seems that Monroe’s only ally left in the world is Celia, who has honed her producing skills since the fateful party where she first pitched her espionage concept. The contemptuous gang beats out MGM for the coveted Best Picture award, but the stress is too much for Monroe to bear, and we are left hanging hours later as he clutches his heart, calling out for Celia as he collapses.
In many ways, it’s an appropriate “non-ending”, just enough to possibly conclude the show while also echoing the unfinished state of Fitzgerald’s source novel.
What’d He Wear?
The Last Tycoon‘s dapper protagonist dresses in elegant white tie to bookend the series, sporting full evening dress in both the first and final episodes. It’s a fitting choice, as he finds himself in white tie when first hearing the pitch for An Enemy Among Us and again wearing white tie when he himself is pitching the concept of the same film to Louis B. Mayer eight episodes later. White tie was designed to make a man look his most dashing, thus elevating a guy like Matt Bomer to nearly superhuman levels.
Speaking of superhumans, The Last Tycoon‘s master costume designer Janie Bryant explained the symbolic relationship between Monroe Stahr and his appearance in black-and-white full evening dress to Costume Designers Guild: “Monroe Stahr wears black and white a lot because it’s a reference to the era of black and white movies, but he also sees his world as very black and white. He is all about the integrity of the artistry and the craft of making the movies, so he wears beautifully tailored suits, but he’s not ostentatious.”
By the mid-1930s, black tie had surpassed white tie as the default evening dress code for gents, and Monroe Stahr certainly makes the most of his contemporary-styled double-breasted dinner jacket, saving his full evening dress for only the most formal occasions.
Though higher in the studio hierarchy, Monroe Stahr honors his writing team by donning full evening dress at the screenwriters’ ball in the pilot episode.
Monroe Stahr’s black wool dress coat has the traditional long tails and faux double-breasted front. The look is designed to be timeless, though Monroe’s particular kit nods to the fashions of the era with broader peak lapels (faced in black silk, of course) with long, slanted gorges. The only external pocket is the welted breast pocket, in which Monroe wears a white silk pocket square.
The front is styled like a double-breasted jacket, but meant to be worn open. The six front buttons, three buttons on the sleeve ends, and two vestigal buttons over the back tails are plain black plastic four-hole sew-through buttons with no black silk coverings.
Monroe shares his first dance with Kathleen.
For his evening at the screenwriters’ ball in the first episode, Monroe wears a white evening dress shirt with a plain white front bib that shows two mother-of-pearl studs. The shirt is worn with a detachable wing collar and has squared single cuffs fastened with round mother-of-pearl cuff links that match the front studs. Mother-of-pearl is considered one of the most traditional and tasteful options for appointments on a full dress evening shirt.
After a public dressing down by the widow of his recently deceased brother-in-law/employee, Monroe literally dresses down by removing his tailcoat.
Esquire was reporting in its inaugural issue in autumn of 1933 that “the white waistcoat has at last been allowed to rejoin its lawful but long estranged mate, the tailcoat, and the new dinner jackets are matched with a waistcoat of the jacket material, with dull grosgrain lapel facing.” (Source: Black Tie Guide) In this episode, Monroe wears a butterfly/thistle-shaped self-tying bow tie in white pique to perfectly match his waistcoat.
Monroe gives Celia a moment to remember in the first episode.
The white pique waistcoat in the first episode is double-breasted with a closely spaced, tapered four-on-two button front beneath the low front opening. The waistcoat has welted hip pockets and a slim shawl collar with grosgrain edges. Unlike most modern dress waistcoats (or at least those popularly issued by rental houses), it has a full back like a waistcoat that would accompany a three-piece suit.
Though a fine traditional example of a gentleman’s full dress waistcoat, it is slightly too long and about an inch of white fabric peeks out under each side of the tailcoat’s cutaway front sections.
A confrontation in the first episode leaves Monroe clutching his midsection.
Monroe wears a different white shirt, tie, and waistcoat for the 1937 Academy Awards ceremony. His white marcella formal shirt appears to have an attached wing collar, a surprising deviation at a time when most formal shirts were worn with detachable collars. The shirt also has a wide front placket, worn with diamond studs, and rounded single cuffs fastened with a set of rectangular links.
Monroe pays tribute to his late wife Minna. Next to Minna is his recently acquired Oscar statuette.
Monroe wears a slightly slimmer self-tying bow tie, a light ivory diamond-shaped silk tie with a pointed end.
Monroe finds an interested audience in Louis B. Mayer (Saul Rubinek) when pitching Celia’s movie, An Enemy Among Us, during a break in the 1937 Academy Awards ceremony.
For the Oscars, Monroe again wears a double-breasted, four-on-two button full dress waistcoat with shawl collar, but the similarities end there. Monroe has severely overcompensated for the previous waistcoat’s excessive length, here wearing a straight-bottomed waistcoat in ivory twill that looks fine at the ceremony itself but rides up above his trouser line when in respite at his office.
With his tailcoat removed, his tie undone, and – lest we forget – his boss furious at him, Monroe Stahr has more to worry about than the length of his waistcoat.
This waistcoat also lacks the full back of his other, instead looping around his neck and fastening around the back of his waist, a style that was popularized at the time by the Prince of Wales, of course. The shawl collar is slim around the neck but swells out to a wide “drooping” squared bottom (similar to his black tie waistcoat), and there are no pockets.
Monroe’s waistcoat in “Oscar, Oscar, Oscar” (Episode 1.09) also provides a better look at his white silk suspenders (braces) with their gold adjusters, seen just below the back loop of his waistcoat around his neck.
Minna (and Oscar) watch over Monroe.
The only trousers one should really wear with a black full dress tailcoat are the black formal trousers with silk side striping, and Monroe follows that rule to a T with his double reverse-pleated trousers with their single silk side stripe, on-seam side pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms.
The victorious producers rise to collect their Oscar!
Most men had accepted the more practical and timeless black leather oxford as the de facto dress shoe by the 1930s, but Monroe Stahr sticks with the über-formal black patent leather opera pump as his preferred footwear with both white tie and black tie dress, naturally worn with black dress socks.
Monroe’s choice of outerwear, seen only when outside before and after the Oscar ceremony, is the traditional black wool chesterfield coat with a white silk dress scarf with frayed edges. The double-breasted chesterfield has wide satin-faced peak lapels, welted breast pocket, a six-on-two button front in the “keystone” arrangement and covered in black satin, and straight flapped hip pockets.
Monroe looks every bit the matinee idol when arriving at – and leaving – the 1937 Oscars with Kathleen.
“If a boutonnière is worn with full dress then it must be white,” declares the experts at Black Tie Guide when exploring full dress traditions. Our protagonist recognizes and adheres to this tradition, wearing two different white carnations on his left lapel that compete for attention with his rakishly worn white pocket squares.
Monroe’s first white tie ensemble, when attending the screenwriters’ ball in the pilot episode, features a white carnation worn with the stem pinned through the lapel. This more modern, less regarded style reminds me more of harried mothers trying to prep their sons for prom pictures than a gentleman dressing for the evening.
Why the discomfort, Monroe? Perhaps it’s that prom-style boutonnière… or perhaps it’s the widow publicly blaming you for her troubled husband’s suicide.
By the titular ceremonies of “Oscar, Oscar, Oscar” (Episode 1.09), Monroe Stahr has graduated his boutonnière game to the more mature, less damaging, and ultimately correct style of wearing it with the stem inserted through the buttonhole of his left lapel, where it is likely secured by an under-lapel loop that keeps it in place without needing to damage the lapel with a pin.
Eight episodes later, Monroe is between a rock and a hard place thanks to his dishonest fiancee and his disloyal boss… but you’d never know it when you see him sporting that expertly worn boutonnière!
On his right pinky, Monroe wears a gold signet ring with an etched “S.” that likely signifies his adopted professional surname of Stahr (though it could also be his birth surname of Sternberg.)
How to Get the Look
Unlike his more old fashioned boss Pat Brady (Kelsey Grammer), Matt Bomer’s Monroe Stahr reserves his full evening dress tailcoat and white tie for only the most formal occasions… instantly multiplying his elegance quotient.
Monroe Stahr (Matt Bomer) dances with Kathleen Moore (Dominique McElligott) in the pilot episode of The Last Tycoon.
Black wool dress tailcoat with broad silk-faced peak lapels, 6-on-2 button double-breasted front, welted breast pocket, 3-button cuffs, and tails with two vestigal buttons
White pique double-breasted waistcoat with shawl collar, 4-on-2 button front, and welted hip pockets
Black wool formal pleated trousers with grosgrain side braid, “quarter top” on-seam side pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
White formal shirt with detachable wing collar, marcella front bib, and single cuffs
Mother-of-pearl shirt studs
Mother-of-pearl cuff links
White pique bow tie
White silk suspenders with gold adjusters
Black patent leather opera pumps/court shoes with square black grosgrain bows
Black dress socks
White cotton short-sleeve undershirt
Gold monogrammed signet ring, right pinky
White carnation boutonnière
You can learn more about how to properly wear a boutonnière, using no less than 007 as an example, in a recent post featured on Matt Spaiser’s The Suits of James Bond.
Pierce Brosnan as James Bond in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
Vitals
Pierce Brosnan as James Bond, British government agent
London to Hamburg, April 1997
Film: Tomorrow Never Dies Release Date: December 6, 1997 Director: Roger Spottiswoode Costume Designer: Lindy Hemming
Background
Who else but the Irish actor Pierce Brosnan would be best to feature on the 00-7th o’ March?
Following a thrilling pre-credits sequence, James Bond gets in some much needed R&R in the arms of a beautiful Danish language tutor when duty calls… in the form of Miss Moneypenny. Bond begrudgingly departs his cunning linguistics session (yes, I know) when MI6 summons him for an urgent briefing and sends him off to a springtime mission in Germany.
The scene is quintessential Bond: an elegant suit, a snazzy new car, a useful gadget… and enough product placement to guarantee the future of the series.What’d He Wear?
In his comprehensive must-read post about this suit at The Suits of James Bond, Matt Spaiser notes that this was Lindy Hemming’s second consecutive film placing Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond in a navy birdseye worsted Brioni suit as he had previously worn a different one during the action-packed tank chase in GoldenEye. Both suits were made with three pieces, although Brosnan actually wears the waistcoat here in Tomorrow Never Dies after having forgone it for the prior film.
The features of Bond’s navy suit in Tomorrow Never Dies are best spied when he is in London receiving his briefing. The single-breasted suit jacket is cut like his others, with notch lapels that roll to a three-button front, double vents, and flapped hip pockets that gently slant toward the back. Gone are the colorful blue pocket squares of GoldenEye; Brosnan keeps his welted breast pocket free of adornment.
Bond’s five-button waistcoat is worn correctly with the bottom button undone over the notched bottom. The trousers also are likely styled like his other Brioni suits in Tomorrow Never Dies with belt loops, side pockets, double reverse pleats, and turn-ups (cuffs) on the bottoms.
Bond gets briefed on the Carver situation by his MI6 colleagues.
Brosnan wears a light cream cotton shirt from Turnbull & Asser with a semi-spread collar, front placket, and double (French) cuffs likely fastened with a pair of Dunhill links similar to the silver-and-gold ovals he would wear later with his gray suit, featured on James Bond Lifestyle. His copper brown woven silk tie is also from Turnbull & Asser, with the cross-weave creating a small pattern of raised navy squares.
The Brosnan era included its fair share of louder ties than one may associate with Ian Fleming’s civil servant of the novels, but this understated tie – though again not a traditional color for 007 – is one of my favorites of Pierce’s tenure. It was included with the shirt at a Bonhams auction in June 2009, with the bundle selling for £1,320.
The pièce de résistance of Bond’s ensemble is his tobacco brown cashmere double-breasted overcoat, also a Brioni item, that he wears upon arrival in Hamburg. The knee-length coat has a six-button double-breasted front (with two to close), though Brosnan wears it open throughout the sequence. The flapped hip pockets sit straight on an axis above the lowest row of buttons, and there is a long single vent in the back. The addition of a belt in the back would bring this closer to the style of a “guards coat”, which attentive readers would recall Brosnan wearing in navy cashmere during Die Another Day.
The peak lapels direct the eye toward the wide, padded shoulders with roped sleeveheads, creating an effect reminiscent of the “golden age of menswear” in the 1930s and 1940s.
Something tells me that 007 may be in for a customer service nightmare…
The outfit and coat provide an interesting contrast to a similar scene decades earlier in Live and Let Die as Roger Moore’s Bond arrived in New York City, clad in a navy suit and double-breasted Chesterfield coat. As it does here, Sir Roger’s overcoat matched the ground color of his tie, but Moore’s traditional navy coat and tie created a more understated presence than the flashier elegance of Brosnan’s coordinating copper tones.
Of course, elegant outerwear was a signature of Brosnan’s characterization, who distinguished himself from his predecessors as the first 007 to wear an overcoat with at least one lounge suit in each of his Bond films… apart from single-shot Lazenby, of course.
Less is seen of Bond’s footwear in this scene, but he is clearly wearing black leather oxfords, and they’re most likely the same Church’s cap-toe oxford brogues that he would wear the following day with his gray suit. His socks also appear to be black.
…here endeth the lesson.
Pierce Brosnan was the first James Bond to wear an Omega on screen with his quartz Seamaster dive watch in GoldenEye. Two years later, Brosnan upgraded 007’s preferred timepiece to an automatic movement with the Omega Seamaster Professional Chronometer 2531.80.00 in Tomorrow Never Dies, and he would wear this through the rest of his tenure, as you can read at James Bond Lifestyle.
This stainless Seamaster has a blue dial and blue 12-sided unidirectional rotating bezel used to calculate diving time, and it is worn on a stainless link bracelet.
Bond is forced to pull the plug on his afternoon session with Professor Inga Bergstrom (Cecilie Thomsen). Note that he leaves his Omega on for even this type of… activity.
The next day would find Bond in yet another stylish Brioni business suit, this time a gray worsted two-piece worn with a light blue shirt and somewhat busier Turnbull & Asser jacquard woven silk tie that the company still markets more than 10 years after the film hit theaters. The scene also provides viewers with much more of an action sequence for Bond’s newly issued (and – spoiler alert! – short-lived) BMW sedan, a rather entertaining showcase of Chekhov’s cell phone at work.
Go Big or Go Home
As I mentioned earlier, we get plenty of product placement in the way of 007’s new toys. Of course, this also gives us plenty of opportunity for Pierce Brosnan and Desmond Llewelyn to demonstrate their legendary comedic chemistry as Q issues Bond his new Ericsson “JB988” cell phone…
Q: Let’s get on with it, shall we? Your new telephone: talk here, listen here. Bond: So that’s what I’ve been doing wrong all these years…
And, of course, his new BMW 750iL sedan…
Q: It’s the insurance damage waiver for your beautiful new car. Now, will you need collision coverage? Bond: Yes. Q: Fire? Bond: Probably. Q: Property destruction? Bond: Definitely. Q: Personal Injury? Bond: I hope not, but accidents do happen. Q: They frequently do with you. Bond: Well, that takes care of the normal wear-and-tear. Is there any other protection I need? Q: Only from me 007, unless you bring that car back in pristine order.
Pierce Brosnan as James Bond in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
As the ’90s progressed, James Bond shunned the informality that was permeating accepted menswear, and he lands in Hamburg wearing no less than a tailored three-piece suit, cashmere overcoat, silk tie, designer cuff links, and luxury sport watch… all from legacy European brands.
Navy birdseye worsted wool Brioni suit:
Single-breasted 3-button jacket with notch lapels, welted breast pocket, flapped hip pockets, 4-button cuffs, and double vents
Single-breasted 5-button waistcoat/vest with welted hip pockets
Double reverse-pleated trousers with belt loops, side pockets, and turn-ups/cuffs
Cream cotton Turnbull & Asser dress shirt with semi-spread collar, front placket, and double/French cuffs
Copper brown woven silk Turnbull & Asser tie with raised navy box pattern
Silver oval-shaped Dunhill cuff links with gold center
Black leather belt with rounded gold single-prong buckle
Black leather Church’s 5-eyelet cap-toe oxford brogues
Black dress socks
Tobacco brown cashmere Brioni double-breasted overcoat with peak lapels, 6×2-button front, straight flapped hip pockets, 4-button cuffs, and single back vent
Omega Seamaster Professional 2531.80.00 Chronometer with blue dial and bezel, stainless case, and stainless bracelet
Church’s is a pricier brand, so gents looking to test drive a pair of black cap-toe oxford brogues for themselves à la 007 can try this well-reviewed pair from Kenneth Cole Reaction for up to $165 (as of March 2018). Want to compare it to Church’s? Check out this $650 pair of Church’s Toronto six-eyelet cap-toe oxford brogues, available via MR PORTER.
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out the movie, and do consider Avis for all your rental ne- oop, sorry, the product placement got to me too!
Film: Prime Cut Release Date: June 28, 1972 Director: Michael Ritchie Costume Designer: Patricia Norris
Background
Today, March 10, is officially National Ranch Dressing Day. What could possibly be the relevance to menswear, you ask? Well, I managed to find a connection for National Potato Day so let’s use today’s observance to explore and celebrate that oft-tragic American phenomenon, the ranch suit.
With its traditionally Western connotation, the ranch suit was an appropriate choice for Mary Ann, Gene Hackman’s character in Prime Cut, to wear during the Jayhawker Fair that leads to his fatal confrontation with mob enforcer Nick Devlin (Lee Marvin).
Nick had arrived from Chicago the day before on behalf of the Irish mob, seeking financial restitution for Mary Ann’s previous misdeeds. “You know, my family were Americans while your family was still diggin’ the bugs out of Irish potatoes,” declares Mary Ann, taking a few jabs at Nick’s heritage that would have been fitting in an 1850s issue of Punch magazine. Nevertheless, an exchange is made… only for Nick to discover that Mary Ann had merely handed him a package of beef hearts.
(No, “Mary Ann” is not a typo. This typically feminine name that often evokes all-American wholesomeness is indeed the name of Gene Hackman’s vicious drug dealer and pimp in Prime Cut.)
What’d He Wear?
You’ve seen them in plenty of movies, TV shows, and possibly even real life… but what exactly do you call that decidedly Western-styled take on a business suit with enough pointed yokes to pull a plow? Meet the ranch suit… or, alternately, the Western suit.
One nearly universal aspect of what differentiates a ranch suit are the pointed “Western” yokes on the front and back of the jacket. From there, designers have the freedom to deck it out with arrow detailing, suede patches, pointed pocket flaps to echo the yokes… items all found on this brown suit offered by Spur Western Wear.
Given the array of style options available to the ranch suit designer, Gene Hackman’s taupe striped ranch suit in Prime Cut is surprisingly conservative, with only the curved “smile” pockets on his chest accompanying the pointed yokes as decidedly Western details. A “smile” pocket is merely a jetted pocket with a slight convex curve, named for its resemblance to a gently smiling mouth. As we see on Hackman’s suit jacket, the “smile” pocket is often angled and accented at each corner with a stitched arrow detail.
Mary Ann’s ranch suit jacket is otherwise cut and styled similarly to a standard lounge jacket with notch lapels of moderate width that roll to the top of a single-breasted, three-button front. The straight shoulders are roped at the sleeveheads, and each sleeve is stitched at the end to resemble a cuff with two small, non-functioning “kissing” buttons. The hip pockets are straight and jetted, unlike many ranch suits or Western jackets that opt for pointed flaps on the hip pockets.
I’ve watched the scene and reviewed my screenshots several times, and I remain mystified by this jacket’s vent situation. Initially, we see Hackman with what appears to be a long single vent cut in the back of his jacket, but this alternates with other shots that clearly show what appear to be double side vents.
What is this sorcery? An recherché triple-vented jacket?
A vent for each yoke point, perhaps?
The flat front trousers also incorporate traditional ranch suit detailing like the pointed “keystone” belt loops and frogmouth front pockets. The back pockets are jetted with a single loop for a button to close each. The fit is straight through the legs with plain-hemmed bottoms.
Mary Ann’s tooled leather belt is brown with darker edges that grade to a lighter center with ornate tan detailing. He wears a large, oval-shaped buckle in polished brass with an embossed rim and embossed square center.
Cowboy boots are naturally Mary Ann’s footwear of choice, though little is seen of his tan leather boots.
Not Mary Ann’s finest moment.
And what shirt to wear with a Western-styled ranch suit? A Western-styled snap shirt, of course! In this scene, Mary Ann wears a pale blue cotton shirt with pointed yokes (two on the front, one on the back) and the same curvy “smile” pockets as we saw on his suit jacket. The shirt has a long point collar and mother-of-pearl snaps up the front placket, with at least three matching pearl snaps on the cuffs.
Mary Ann’s bad day just keeps getting worse.
Mary Ann’s silk tie appears to be a taupe mini-grid on a cream ground, creating the appearance of a solid ivory silk tie from a distance. Although a traditional self-tying tie is always the best way to go, we do know that Mary Ann is not opposed to sporting the occasional clip-on tie… despite being older than 7 years of age.
Mary Ann shows his patriotic pride by wearing a small American flag pin mid-torso to keep his tie in place.
Mary Ann wears a traditional cattleman-style cowboy hat in pearl gray felt with a narrow taupe grosgrain band and edge trim.
All of Mary Ann’s jewelry is limited to his left hand with a gold analog watch with a black dial strapped to his left wrist on a gold bracelet. Throughout Prime Cut, he wears a plain gold wedding ring on the third finger of his left hand, but he complements it here with a silver pinky ring as well.
Brotherly love.
This isn’t Mary Ann’s only ranch suit, as the brown striped trousers he wears when “rough housing” with his brother Weenie (Gregory Walcott) almost definitely have a matching jacket in a similar Western style. However, we never actually see Gene Hackman sporting the jacket in the finished film as it spends its screen time slung over the back of his chair.
Mary Ann snaps up his six-snap shirt cuffs before heading out to “that Chamber of Commerce soiree.”
Promotional photo of Gene Hackman in Prime Cut (1972), sans tie and armed with a revolver rather than the 1911-style pistol he uses on screen.
How to Get the Look
Gene Hackman’s Mary Ann in Prime Cut sticks to his Western persona with a classic ranch suit, snap shirt, cowboy boots, cattleman’s hat, tooled leather belt, and big flashy buckle – consistency is key for pulling off this look.
Taupe striped wool ranch suit:
Single-breasted 3-button jacket with notch lapels, Western-pointed front and back yokes, angled “smile” breast pockets, straight jetted hip pockets, 2-button cuffs, and [possibly] triple vents
Flat front trousers with keystone belt loops, frogmouth front pockets, jetted button-loop back pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
Pale blue cotton Western snap-up shirt with long point collar, pointed yokes, angled “smile” breast pockets, and snap cuffs
Taupe-on-cream grid-checked silk tie
Brown tooled gradient leather belt, worn with large polished brass detailed buckle
Tan leather cowboy boots
Pearl gray felt cattleman-style cowboy hat
Yellow gold watch with black dial on gold bracelet
Yellow gold wedding band
Silver pinky ring
The Gun
Mary Ann’s weapon of choice when duking it out with Nick Devlin is a classic M1911A1 semi-automatic pistol, likely meant to be the classic Colt Government model in .45 ACP.
Mary Ann’s position may give him an initial advantage, but even with a 1911, he is severely outgunned by a submachine gun-toting Nick Devlin.
Many films of this era – including The Wild Bunch, The Getaway, Dillinger, and Three Days of the Condor – substituted the Star Model B, a Spanish 9mm clone, when a scene’s context called for a 1911. At the time, .45 ACP blanks didn’t cycle as reliably as the 9×19 mm Parabellum ammunition chambered in the Star pistol. Mary Ann’s pistol is never seen closely enough to determine if Hackman is firing a Star Model B or a genuine Colt-style 1911A1.
Jack Davenport as “Lancelot” in Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)
Vitals
Jack Davenport as James Spencer, aka “Lancelot”, smooth British agent
Argentina, Winter 2014
Film: Kingsman: The Secret Service Release Date: January 29, 2015 Director: Matthew Vaughn Costume Designer: Arianne Phillips Tailor: Martin Nicholls
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
James Spencer, aka “Lancelot” (Jack Davenport), is introduced to audiences in the manner one would expect of a story’s hero. He transitions between dry wit and superhuman agility as he deftly takes out a room full of assassins in his attempt to rescue Professor James Arnold (Mark Hamill) from his kidnappers.
The vignette concludes with a Lancelot in the traditional pose of an action hero, gun up and smirking while on bended knee… only to (spoiler alert!) fall victim to the deadly blade of aptly named assassin Gazelle (Sofia Boutella). Of course, it’s hardly that much of a spoiler as the search for Lancelot’s replacement is what drives much of the plot of Kingsman: The Secret Service.
What’d He Wear?
Lancelot’s style – in this scene, at least – differs greatly from the traditional double-breasted city suits commonly associated with Kingsman agents. If Galahad and Eggsy were the epitome of double-breasted city style, then Lancelot epitomizes the concept of a country suit with his natty three-piece suit of earth-toned tweed suiting with a single-breasted jacket and matching waistcoat and trousers. The suiting is mustard gold with a large-scale overcheck created by green vertical stripes and blue horizontal stripes that intersect to create a square windowpane grid. The bronze satin lining is printed with a black equestrian motif.
I haven’t seen any confirmation, but it’s likely that Lancelot’s suit was made by bespoke firm Martin Nicholls London of Savile Row who had also cut and made the suits for major characters like Galahad, Eggsy, and Arthur.
You wouldn’t expect a guy with such a CMOA to get the axe so shortly after his introduction…
Single-breasted lounge suit jackets are a rare sight among Kingsman agents. Lancelot’s jacket has notch lapels with swelled edges that roll to a three-button front that he wears open. The jacket is shaped with darts and has roped sleeveheads, a single back vent, and the same functional four-button “surgeon’s cuffs,” so named for their rumored origins among battlefield surgeons who wanted to roll up their sleeves rather than remove their jacket before an operation.
The bright red silk pocket square in Lancelot’s welted breast pocket creates a bold statement, and the hip pockets are flapped and slanted in addition to the ticket pocket on the right side.
Lancelot’s single-breasted waistcoat also has notch lapels with swelled edges. He correctly wears the lowest of the five buttons undone over the notched bottom. The waistcoat has four welted pockets.
The things one has to do to get a good drink…
Lancelot’s flat front suit trousers are the most similar in style to the items worn by his fellow Kingsman agents. Devoid of belt loops, the waistband is clean save for the slide buckle tabs on the right and left to adjust the fit around the waist. The trousers have straight pockets along each side seam, and there is a single jetted back pocket on the right that closes through a button. The bottoms are plain-hemmed with no cuffs.
Note his trouser details as Lancelot literally kicks a thug’s ass.
Neither oxfords nor brogues are the footwear of choice for Lancelot on this mission, instead opting for a pair of derby-laced cap-toe boots in cognac brown calf leather. Renowned English shoemaker George Cleverley provided footwear for many of the film’s principals, but I’m not sure if these boots are also Cleverley items.
Another English legacy brand that contributed its wares to Kingsman agents is Turnbull & Asser. Lancelot’s cotton (or Viyella cotton-wool) twill shirt is likely T&A with a blue, green, and lavender tattersall check on a white ground. The shirt has a semi-spread collar, front placket, and button cuffs.
Lancelot wears a bottle green grenadine silk tie that brings together the colors present in the suit and shirt. Drake’s contributed ties and pocket squares to the production of Kingsman: The Secret Service, and this woven high-twist silk tie still available on their site would be a fine match for Lancelot’s on-screen neckwear.
The hell of it is that Gazelle’s preferred killing method ruined a perfectly good suit, shirt, and tie.
We don’t see if Lancelot has the issued Cutler & Gross glasses that his fellow agents wear, but he does wear the standard gold signet ring embossed with the Kingsman crest on his left pinky in addition to his Bremont luxury watch. Bremont developed its “Kingsman” range of three luxury watches that would be worn by characters in the film, including the Bremont Kingsman Special Edition Rose Gold, a modified version of “the wonderfully over-engineered” Bremont World Timer (ALT1-WT) chronograph worn on an embossed brown calfskin leather strap with a rose gold single-pin buckle.
The modified caliber 13 ¼” BE-54AE automatic chronometer has an 18-karat rose gold 43mm case with an internally rotating bi-directional bezel with global time zones to keep Kingsman agents on schedule for missions around the world. The white metal finished dial has three sub-dials at 6:00, 9:00, and 12:00 with the “Kingsman” emblem proudly emblazoned on the latter. The dial also has a date window at 3:00 and Bremont’s signature SuperLumiNova® coated hands. You can learn more about the Bremont Kingsman Special Edition Rose Gold from the Bremont site.
As Kingsman agents wear their signet rings on the dominant hand, we can deduce that Lancelot is left-handed.
Of note for some may be Lancelot’s “severed half-body”, currently being auctioned by Prop Store. The body, made of silicone, is intensely detailed and costumed in, according to the description, “a green tweed three-piece suit, white plaid shirt, and a single beige sock.”
What to Imbibe
Professor Arnold’s kidnappers may be brutal criminals, but they appropriately demonstrate a soft spot for Dalmore 1962 single malt Scotch.
“Honestly, this whisky… it’s amazing. You will shit,” says his captor. The goons never get to try any, of course, as Lancelot interrupts the party before it is even served. And, once the unfortunate server arrives, Lancelot dispatches him with a single shot and catches the glass before the tray hits the ground:
Ah, 1962 Dalmore. It’d be a sin to spill any.
Lancelot rewards his own efforts with a dram of Scotland’s finest.
At least Lancelot is able to enjoy a sip before Gazelle slices him in half. (It’s worth noting that she, too, makes the effort to grab Lancelot’s glass from him before his crumpling halves would send the glass and the contents to the ground.)
How to Get the Look
Lancelot counters his fellow Kingsman agents’ impeccable double-breasted city suits by sporting the ideal countrified tweed suit with just the right amount of panache befitting a sophisticated secret agent.
Single-breasted 3-button jacket with notch lapels, welted breast pocket, slanted flapped hip pockets and right-side ticket pocket, functional 4-button cuffs, and single vent
Single-breasted 5-button waistcoat with notch lapels, four welted pockets, and notched bottom
Flat front suit trousers with extended hidden hook-and-eye closure squared waist tab, buckle-strap side adjuster tabs, straight/on-seam side pockets, button-through right back pocket, and plain-hemmed bottoms
White tattersall-checked cotton twill Turnbull & Asser shirt with semi-spread collar, front placket, and button cuffs
Bremont Kingsman Special Edition Rose Gold automatic chronometer with 18-karat rose gold 43mm case, white dial (with 3 sub-dials and 3:00 date window), and brown embossed calfskin leather strap
The Gun
Although they represent the best of English traditions – from their clothing to their manners – Kingsman agents are issued unique custom handguns based on the very Russian Tokarev TT-30 semi-automatic pistol. The design comes from Cohort Film Services, which “refinished and reblued” six original TT-30 pistols, according to IMFDB.
Cohort Film Services also designed the custom suppressors that agents like Lancelot here fit on their pistols.
In addition to modifications to the frames, hammers, slides, and grips, the pistol was fitted with an underbarrel shotgun attachment for extra lethality and a unique profile fitting for Kingsman agents for its blend of a classic aesthetic with modern innovation.
Michael Caine as “Arthur” in Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)
Vitals
Michael Caine as Chester King, aka “Arthur”, secret agency chief
London, Spring 2014
Film: Kingsman: The Secret Service Release Date: January 29, 2015 Director: Matthew Vaughn Costume Designer: Arianne Phillips Tailor: Martin Nicholls
WARNING! Possible spoilers ahead!
Background
This week’s second consecutive post featuring style from Kingsman: The Secret Service celebrates the 85th birthday of Sir Michael Caine, CBE, the iconic star who established himself in fashionable ’60s fare like Alfie, The Italian Job, and The Ipcress File. In the latter film, a grounded response to the spectacle-laden James Bond franchise, Caine’s bespectacled spy Harry Palmer would provide a template for the distinctive look to be adopted by the agents of Kingsman five decades hence.
Caine’s role in Kingsman: The Secret Service can be likened to the wizened “M” of the 007 franchise, though his role in the agents’ training process shares similarities to one of the real life influences for M: early MI6 chief Sir Mansfield Smith-Cumming. Cumming was known for his idiosyncratic behavior during interviews with potential agents, often gauging their shock when stabbing his artificial leg with a knife.
When Eggsy approaches Arthur for his final review in Kingsman: The Secret Service, Arthur has an equally unorthodox – but decidedly more tragic – request designed to test Eggsy’s mettle.
What’d He Wear?
Michael Caine’s Arthur wears two suits over the course of Kingsman: The Secret Service, both gray with a windowpane overcheck. Unlike many of the items worn by Galahad or Eggsy, this lighter gray flannel twill suit with its tan-and-rust windowpane didn’t make it into MR PORTER’s “costume collection” offered in collaboration with the film.
The suit jacket’s gray plastic buttons are arranged in a six-on-two rectangular layout with the two vestigal top buttons on the same vertical axis as the rest of the buttons, more consistent with classic naval uniform jackets as well as the mod ’60s style associated with Caine’s early career. The jacket has peak lapels, as one would expect with a double-breasted jacket, that extend wide across Caine’s chest with a buttonhole through each.
Arthur’s jacket has padded shoulders and heavily roped sleeveheads and is almost definitely cut with the same long double vents as his other suit jacket as well as the double-breasted jackets of his agents. The jacket has a welted breast pocket for his navy pocket square, straight flapped hip pockets, and functioning four-button “surgeon’s cuffs” on the ends of his sleeves, though he foregoes unbuttoning one of the cuff buttons like Harry does.
Arthur and J.B. share a tense moment.
Arthur likely wears a pair of flat front trousers with the same extended hook-and-eye waist front tab and slide-buckle adjuster side tabs as appear on other Kingsman suit trousers. The trousers have side pockets and are finished on the bottoms with turn-ups (cuffs) in contrast to the plain-hemmed bottoms of his younger agents.
Naturally, Arthur follows the “oxfords, not brogues” edict that refers both to Kingsman agents’ clever passcode and their Cleverley shoes. London bespoke shoemaker George Cleverley contributed many pairs of black leather five-eyelet cap-toe oxfords to the production and, like many other items of sartorial interest from the Kingsman universe, are still available in the MR PORTER collection for $950.
Arthur wears black cotton dress socks with his shoes rather than matching his hosiery to the lighter gray of his suit trousers.
Arthur further differentiates his style from his fellow Kingsman agents by wearing exclusively pink shirts and ties throughout the film.
Likely made by London legacy shirtmaker Turnbull & Asser, Arthur’s pale pink cotton twill shirt has a cutaway spread collar and double (French) cuffs that he fastens with a set of rose gold-plated cuff links embossed with the Kingsman crest on both sides of each link.
Arthur should exercise more caution when enjoying a drink with Eggsy around…
Arthur’s tie maintains the navy, burgundy, and pink color scheme of the standard Kingsman tie, but with sets of two thin burgundy stripes bisected by a thin navy stripe to create the effect of bold, single stripes – in the classic British “uphill” direction – on a pink twill ground. A half-silk, half-cotton faille version of the tie is available from the MR PORTER collection for $140.
Drake’s also contributed pocket squares to the film, and Arthur wears one in navy silk, folded to display the white rolled edges. Like the tie, a similar version of the pocket square can be purchased from the MR PORTER collection for $65.
Arthur’s preferred neckwear inverts the standard Kingsman club tie, perhaps denoting his elevated position in the bureau or signaling something more sinister… Ian Fleming would also agree that Arthur’s choice of a wide Windsor tie – “the mark of a cad” – should indicate something untrustworthy lurking beneath.
When overseeing the training of an ultimately disappointing Kingsman cadet, Arthur covers his suit with a charcoal wool single-breasted Chesterfield coat with wide peak lapels, a high-fastening fly front, long single vent, and slanted flapped hip pockets with a ticket pocket. Like his suit jacket beneath it, the overcoat has roped sleeveheads. Arthur’s outerwear also includes a gray cashmere wool scarf and black leather gloves.
Arthur makes no secret of his disappointment in the smug Charlie Hesketh.
One could argue that Michael Caine is the reason the Kingsman agents wear their distinctive square-framed glasses, chosen as a homage to the Curry & Paxton specs worn by Michael Caine as Harry Palmer in the espionage classic The Ipcress File (1965).
Cutler & Gross contributed the eyewear for Kingsman: The Secret Service, outfitting each agent with a pair of tortoiseshell acetate glasses.
Fifty years after he stepped into Harry Palmer’s shoes – or specs, I should say – Michael Caine remains as iconic as ever.
The MR PORTER collection includes a pair of Cutler & Gross glasses designed exclusively for sale at $450, though Magnoli Clothiers offers their own replica model for $75.
Arthur wears his gold signet pinky ring, debossed with the Kingsman crest, on his right pinky.
Arthur also wears the standard Bremont luxury watch featured in Kingsman: The Secret Service, a modified version of Bremont’s World Timer (ALT1-WT) chronograph in 18-karat rose gold with an internally rotating bi-directional bezel with global time zones, a white metal-finished dial with three sub-dials and date window, and an embossed brown calfskin strap with a rose gold single-pin buckle.
Bremont created the “Kingsman” range of three luxury watches that would be worn by characters in the film, and Bremont co-founder Nick English actually makes a brief cameo in the film as a Kingsman agent.
How to Get the Look
Arthur may be considerably older than the rest of his agents, but his colorful style is decidedly less conservative, a wink to Michael Caine’s history as a symbol of mod fashion… as well as proof that there’s nothing boring about “dressing like an old man!”
Michael Caine on set while filming Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)
Double-breasted 6-on-2 button jacket with wide peak lapels, welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, functional 4-button cuffs, and double vents
Flat front suit trousers with extended hidden hook-and-eye closure squared waist tab, buckle-strap side adjuster tabs, straight/on-seam side pockets, and turn-ups/cuffs
Pale pink cotton twill Turnbull & Asser shirt with cutaway spread collar and double/French cuffs
Pink silk twill tie with burgundy-navy-burgundy “uphill” stripes
Navy silk pocket square with rolled white edges
Black calf leather George Cleverley five-eyelet cap-toe oxford shoes
Black cotton lisle socks
Gold signet pinky ring
Bremont Kingsman Special Edition Rose Gold automatic chronometer with 18-karat rose gold 43mm case, white dial (with 3 sub-dials and 3:00 date window), and brown embossed calfskin leather strap
John Wayne as Sean Thornton in The Quiet Man (1952)
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John Wayne as Sean Thornton, Irish-American former prizefighter
Inisfree, Ireland, spring during the 1920s
Film: The Quiet Man Release Date: July 21, 1952 Director: John Ford Costume Designer: Adele Palmer
Background
John Ford’s cinematic love letter to his ancestral home remains a perennial St. Patrick’s Day favorite, even if it is a somewhat overly sanitized depiction of Irish life in the 1920s. As Duke’s outfit from The Quiet Man has been requested by at least three different BAMF Style readers over the last few years, I couldn’t imagine a better time to feature it than on St. Patrick’s Day weekend.
Based on a 1933 short story by Maurice Walsh, The Quiet Man stars Ford’s favorite actor John Wayne as Sean Thornton, a former boxer from Pittsburgh who is returning home to reclaim his family’s land in Ireland. The setting, Inisfree, is fictional, but much of the movie was filmed on location in western Ireland around the village of Cong, County Mayo.
For the film’s rich cinematography, Ford wisely tapped Winton C. Hoch, the innovative director of photography who greatly contributed to the development of Technicolor in 1936. Both Ford and Hoch would win well-deserved Academy Awards for their work on The Quiet Man.
What’d He Wear?
“He didn’t have the look of an American tourist at all about him,” Father Peter Lonergan (Ward Bond) remarked with approval in his narration upon Sean’s arrival by train at Castletown.
Indeed, with his tweed jacket, flat cap, and flannels, Sean Thornton looks every bit the native Irishman. Tweed has a long legacy as a rugged, weather-resistant fabric associated with country pursuits in Ireland and the United Kingdom. “Many of the costumes were tailored by the O’Máille family,” states the O’Máille website, which continues to mention that John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara both visited its store in Galway for their characters’ costumes, making it highly likely that John Wayne wore authentic, locally handwoven Irish tweed for his role in this most Irish of movies.
Sean Thornton is warmly welcomed in his homeland. It helps that he’s wearing locally made duds.
Sean’s tweed is a herringbone twill weave of beige and light brown yarns to create an overall tan effect with a slight cast toward taupe. The single-breasted jacket has notch lapels that are often worn with the back collar flipped up for a touch of insouciance. The notch lapels and the welted breast pocket have “swelled edge” seams. The jacket also has straight jetted hip pockets in line with the lowest button.
At a towering 6’4″, John Wayne benefits from the visual balance that a three-button jacket affords him, and he typically wears this jacket with the center button correctly fastened unless he’s lounging on Michaeleen’s taxi. All three buttons on the front and the sets of three smaller non-functioning buttons on the end of each sleeve are all tan plastic sew-through buttons.
Another benefit of a well-tailored single-breasted jacket is that you won’t look uncomfortable when seated with a button fastened.
Although Sean’s tweed jacket is pure Ireland, his button-down collar shirt, striped tie, and v-neck jumper are indicative of his Americanization. The jumper, or sweater as we Americans tend to call it, is navy wool with a v-neck deep enough to show off the tie striping and the long points of the shirt’s button-down collar.
The cotton button-down shirt is patterned with hairline blue stripes on a white ground that appears solid pale blue from a distance but is clearly striped – albeit thinly – in close-up shots.
Sean uniquely wears his jacket lapels on top of his raincoat collar… though I’m not sure of the utility of this outside of giving that great tweed jacket more screen time.
Sean’s red and silver satin silk tie is boldly striped in the American “downhill” direction of right-down-to-left. Each stripe is quite broad, possibly around 6″ wide.
More of Sean’s tie is seen when he returns to his new cottage, sans jumper, and runs into Mary Kate Danaher (Maureen O’Hara). Supposedly, director John Ford didn’t approve of O’Hara squinting as the wind effects in this iconic scene kept blowing her hair into her eyes. As fiery as her character, O’Hara shouted her retort to Ford: “What would a bald-headed son of a bitch know about hair lashing across his eyeballs?”
Sean Thornton wears a pair of gray flannel trousers that effectively balance both the tweed jacket as well as his preppy shirt, tie, and sweater. These flat front trousers have a full fit with straight side pockets, no back pockets, and turn-ups (cuffs) on the bottoms.
Assuming they are the same trousers that he later wears with his navy work shirt for the film’s climactic fight, they have belt loops through which he wears a slim brown leather belt with an ornate gold single-prong buckle and tip.
Sean Thornton’s brown shoes for his arrival in Ireland are the ideal footwear for a dressed-up day in the country: more harmonious in color and formality with this outfit than the black oxfords he later wears with his navy double-breasted suit and certainly more appropriate to wear with a tweed jacket and tie on the train than his work boots.
These chestnut calf leather derbies are semi-brogued with a straight cap-toe. Sean wears them with his usual dark navy cotton lisle socks.
From using a candle to igniting a match on the bottom of his shoe, Sean Thornton always looks cool as he’s lighting up a cigarette… though he tends to just throw it away after two puffs.
Sean’s only jewelry or accessory is a large gold ring worn on the third finger of his left hand. The ring’s dark ruby stone implies that it may be John Wayne’s personal class ring from USC, as he can be seen wearing it in several other of his films. (He never graduated from USC, forced to leave the university after an bodysurfing injury left him unable to maintain his football scholarship. Interestingly, that would have been around the time of The Quiet Man‘s setting in the 1920s.)
Sean’s plaid tweed flat cap is covered in an olive-on-tan gun club check with a red-and-rust overcheck.
Sean lights yet another Chesterfield that will last him two puffs before he tosses it away. At least this time, he has a good excuse.
For his Sunday church visit, Sean wears the same outfit as the day before but with a charcoal felt fedora with a pinched crown and slim grosgrain band.
Evidently, this is Sean Thornton’s “Sunday best”.
He carries it for most of the scenes following his arrival, but Sean Thornton actually dons his khaki gabardine trench coat when arriving at his family’s cottage. The trench coat as we know it had been popularized the previous decade during World War I as practical and weather-resistant combat outerwear for the British Army.
Sean’s trench coat has a double-breasted front of six brown woven leather buttons, with three to button, and a matching belt fastened through a large single-prong brown buckle. The trench coat has the traditional epaulettes (shoulder straps), storm flaps, buckle-belted cuffs, and single back vent all associated with the usual trench coat. The slanted side pockets have a pointed flap that would button closed to protect the contents from the weather, but Sean wears his pockets unbuttoned.
The entire outfit is more or less retired after Sean establishes himself in Inisfree, though he does wear the tweed jacket, checked cap, and gray flannel trousers with the more casual combination of a navy flannel work shirt and beige vest later in the film.
What to Imbibe
“I’ll try one of those black beers,” requests Sean as he strides into the local pub. “Ah, the porter. Yes, sir,” replies the barkeep.
The bearded fellow joining John Wayne for a swig of porter is Francis Ford, brother of director John Ford who would appear in many of his films.
Although it was developed in London, the brewing of porter-style beers enjoys a long Irish legacy that dates back to 1776. A decade later, Arthur Guinness of County Kildare began brewing his eponymous beer, and the output of the Guinness Brewery was exclusively porter by the end of the 18th century. The term “stout” developed as a way for early bartenders and beer-drinkers to describe the strength of porters, though even Guinness had dropped the name from its Extra Superior Product by 1840, branding itself with the now-recognizable name of Guinness Extra Stout.
How to Get the Look
John Wayne blends traditional Irish country tweed with classic Ivy League style for a harmonious, strong, and timeless look that would work just as well nearly a century after the film was set.
Tan herringbone tweed single-breasted 3-button sport jacket with notch lapels, welted breast pocket, straight jetted hip pockets, spaced 3-button cuffs, and ventless back
Navy wool v-neck long-sleeve sweater
Gray flannel flat front trousers with belt loops, straight/on-seam side pockets, and turn-ups/cuffs
Blue-on-white hairline-striped cotton shirt with button-down collar and single-button cuffs
Red-and-silver boldly striped satin silk tie
Dark brown leather belt with ornate gold single-prong buckle and tip
Chestnut brown calf semi-brogue derby shoes
Dark navy cotton lisle socks
Olive-on-tan gun club check tweed flat cap
Khaki gabardine trench coat with 6-on-3 leather-button front, belt, epaulettes, button-down flapped slanted side pockets, belted cuffs, and single back vent
Gold class ring with ruby stone
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out the movie, and make sure it’s the remastered 60th anniversary edition to take full advantage of the Academy Award-winning cinematography by Winton C. Hoch.
The Quote
I’m Sean Thornton, and I was born in that little cottage over there, and I’ve come home, and I’m gonna stay… now does that answer all your questions once and for all, you nosy little man?
Footnotes
You think Duke looks good in a tweed three-button jacket? Check out this look from McQ, John Sturges’ contemporary cop thriller made two decades later.
Interestingly, though it’s the national color of Ireland and we Americans often sport it for St. Patrick’s Day, green only rarely appears on the clothing of The Quiet Man‘s characters, most significantly on Maureen O’Hara’s green floral dress and never on John Wayne’s visible clothing. There is, of course, plenty of beautiful green in the natural scenery.
Warren Beatty as Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel in Bugsy (1991)
Vitals
Warren Beatty as Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, “celebrity” gangster and casino builder
Los Angeles, Spring 1945
Film:Bugsy Release Date: December 13, 1991 Director: Barry Levinson Costume Designer: Albert Wolsky
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
BAMF Style goes green for the first #MafiaMonday after St. Patrick’s Day!
We catch up with Ben “don’t-call-him-Bugsy” Siegel in the middle of realizing his dream – the Flamingo Hotel and Casino and, by extension, Las Vegas. In reality, Siegel had far less to do with the development of the “Entertainment Capital of the World” than legend would have it, though it certainly remains his biggest claim to fame… as well as the mob’s biggest reason for wanting him out of the way.
Alas, our hotheaded gangster is far from a good businessman, brushing aside updates that his project is astronomically over budget with “no problem” and platitudes of its ilk. He’s far too distracted, first by his smooth architect’s not-so-obvious advances on his girlfriend Virginia Hill (Annette Bening), followed by the fact that Benito Mussolini was killed before Bugsy could do it himself, and finally by the appearance of Harry Greenberg (Elliott Gould), a dopey gangster from Ben’s past who had no idea that the very last place he should have gone to was his old pal’s doorstep.
While Bugsy may otherwise be delighted to welcome an old friend to his swanky L.A. pad, Harry is on the run after his testimony was supposedly a key element in Lucky Luciano’s imprisonment and subsequent deportation. Bugsy is duty bound by his mob ties to pull the trigger on his unsuspecting – or, more appropriately – unwitting old friend… ultimately giving Bugsy one more complication that he certainly doesn’t need.
The movie condenses nearly the final decade of Bugsy’s life into about two on-screen years, pushing the murder of “Big Greenie” Greenberg up from its actual date of November 1939. You can read more about it in the official Daily Mirror news coverage of Siegel’s trial from January 1942, but the facts are that it was more of a mob operation with fellow gangsters Whitey Krakow and Frankie Carbo in on the hit. Siegel drove the trio to Greenberg’s house on Vista Del Mar in Los Angeles, where Carbo shot Big Greenie five times.
Bugsy made no secret of its taking artistic license with the facts, least of all sentimentalizing its subject’s dastardly deeds by showing Bugsy’s internal struggle even though it’s likely that the real-life Siegel, known to have been a violent psychopath, had few if any qualms about organizing the murder of his former associate.
What’d He Wear?
Bugsy makes the most of his relaxed environment after making the move from New York to L.A. by swapping out his wardrobe of gray double-breasted business suits for a natty collection of plaid and checked sportcoats. This particular jacket is patterned in a gray-and-green check with a dark teal overcheck. The single-breasted front has moderately wide notch lapels that roll to a low-stance two-button front. The ventless jacket has a welted breast pocket, the hip pockets are likely jetted, and there are three buttons at the end of each sleeve. The shoulders are structured in the fashionable style of the mid-’40s with padded shoulders and roped sleeveheads.
Bugsy finds himself embroiled in yet another lovers’ quarrel with Virginia… at a very inconvenient time.
Bugsy calls out the green in the jacket with a mint green silk long-sleeve sport shirt. The shirt has a large collar with rounded edges. To button the shirt at the neck (something Warren Beatty proved his fondness for doing in Bonnie and Clyde), a small button under the right side of the shirt collar fastens to an extended loop on the left side of the top opening, concealing the fastened button under the right side of the collar and creating the effect of a point collar.
The shirt has a plain front for the mother-of-pearl two-hole buttons, two flapped patch pockets on the chest with a stitched green monogram adorning the left pocket flap, and rounded single-button cuffs. An extra sporty touch is the edge stitching visible along the collar and pockets.
Bugsy’s no architect, but that won’t stop him from making major changes (“the pool bothers me”) with an already inflated $2 million budget.
Bugsy buttons the shirt up to the collar for his evening outing with Harry and Virginia, but earlier in the day, he appropriates the look of a man at leisure, unbuttoning the top of the shirt to reveal a dark green silk foulard silk day cravat.
The cravat’s foulard print appears to be a geometric pattern of indigo shapes with white borders and white center dots.
Bugsy receives news that an old friend made a very bad decision.
Fortuitous for the filmmakers, trousers in the early ’90s shared many stylistic similarities with those of the mid-1940s, so Warren Beatty could be just as fashionable in either era with his dark gray wool double reverse-pleated trousers. The rise is somewhat lower than one would have seen on most trousers in 1991, however.
Bugsy’s trousers have straight side pockets, jetted back pockets that close with a button, and turn-ups (cuffs) on the bottoms. He wears them with a dark brown leather belt.
In the brief amount of screentime awarded his footwear, Bugsy appears to be wearing the same light brown suede desert boots that he wore with his black-and-white gingham check jacket when first envisioning the Flamingo in the middle of the Mojave Desert.
This sartorial decision dances with anachronism as desert boots weren’t popularized until the following decade, following their formal introduction to the world at the 1949 Chicago Shoe Fair, two full years after Bugsy Siegel was killed. True, the desert boot had been in development throughout the ’40s following Nathan Clark’s first observance of the boot in Burma in 1941, but it’s highly unlikely that even a clotheshorse like Bugsy would have been so fashion-forward as to crib his kicks from the British Eighth Army.
Bugsy’s usual gold tank watch goes unobserved in this sequence, but he still wears his gold ring with a dark stone on his left pinky.
Gangster movies are slightly closer to Bugsy’s wheelhouse than hotel design.
The outfit is also briefly seen earlier during a brief vignette of Bugsy screening a movie with George Raft (Joe Mantegna) in his private viewing room. Eagle-eyed viewers will note the film in question to be the original Scarface, released in 1932. Scarface is notable as George Raft’s breakout role, for which the actor had tapped into his real-life memories growing up around gangsters like Bugsy Siegel, who had been his childhood pal.
Go Big or Go Home
Seeking the soundtrack for the sort of comfortable spring day that finds you in a silk day cravat? The scene is punctuated by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra’s 1941 recording of “Perfidia”… a bit on the nose as ol’ Bugsy is about to commit a touch of perfidy himself.
Penned by Alberto Domínguez with Milton Leeds contributing the English lyrics, “Perfidia” was the song to beat in the early ’40s. It was first published in 1939 and became an instant hit for Xavier Cugat. It was a mainstay for “exotic”-set films at the time, including a background scene in Casablanca (1942) and in Father Takes a Wife (1941), where audiences were treated to Desi Arnaz serenading them with the original Spanish lyrics.
How to Get the Look
Bugsy puts the businesslike world of the New York mob behind him, fully embracing an L.A. life of leisure with his checked jackets, silk sport shirts, and patterned day cravats.
Gray-and-green check (with teal-green overcheck) single-breasted 2-button sportcoat with notch lapels, welted breast pocket, straight jetted hip pockets, 3-button cuffs, and ventless back
Mint green silk long-sleeve sport shirt with large collar, plain front, two flapped chest pockets, and 1-button rounded cuffs
Dark green foulard-printed silk day cravat
Dark gray wool double reverse-pleated trousers with belt loops, straight/on-seam side pockets, jetted button-through back pockets, and turn-ups/cuffs
Brown leather belt
Light brown suede desert boots
Yellow gold tank watch on black leather strap
Gold pinky ring with dark stone
The Gun
A scene from the director’s cut reveals a distraught Bugsy late at night, steeling himself up to commit suicide with a glass of whiskey and a Colt Model 1903 Pocket Hammerless pistol… evidently the same one he had just used to kill Harry Greenberg.
Virginia, sensing Bugsy’s motives, slyly grabs his piece from the table beside him.
While it’s laughable to even entertain that the real Bugsy had any remorse about killing, let’s discard that dissonance for the sake of the movie and give a few words to the pistol.
After a half-century of revolvers dominating the global handgun market, the advent of the semi-automatic pistol in the late 1890s and early 1900s set major firearm manufacturers on a mission to create a easily concealable yet undoubtably lethal pistol for the mass market. The firearms designer John Browning had an early hit for the Belgian firm Fabrique Nationale (FN) with the Model 1900 pistol, which Teddy Roosevelt reportedly kept in his bedside table, but it was naturally Colt that changed the game with its Model 1903 Pocket Hammerless pistol, also a design by the august Mr. Browning.
Chambered at first in .32 ACP followed by the slightly more robust .380 ACP (the “Model 1908”), the Colt Model 1903 Pocket Hammerless is smooth in all aspects – from its aesthetic to its operation. Despite its “hammerless” moniker, the pistol actually has a hammer though it is always covered by the back of the slide to prevent it from snagging when drawn by the user… allowing for easy carry that made it a popular personal choice for lawmen and lawbreakers alike.
One particular lawbreaker, Bugsy Siegel, looks over his Colt Model 1903 Pocket Hammerless.
While we don’t see Bugsy using this gun to put his old pal to eternal rest, we do see Virginia firing it during a moment of distress, shooting out the leg of a piano that the home’s former owner, Lawrence Tibbitt, no doubt used for more artistic pursuits than target practice.
You may also find it in your interest to learn a little more about William R. Wilkerson, the early 20th century entrepreneur who had far more to do with the development of Las Vegas and the Flamingo than legend gives him. He also had a hand in the development of many Hollywood hangouts frequented by Bugsy and his famous pals, including Cafe Trocadero and Ciro’s, both on Sunset Strip. His son, W.R Wilkinson III, wrote a brief book, The Man Who Invented Las Vegas, that seeks to correct the history that often neglects his father’s legacy in favor of the juicier mob legend.
The Quote
Did they put a price on Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel or Shakespeare’s Macbeth? If it costs more, it costs more. No problem.
John Slattery as Roger Sterling on Mad Men. (Episode 7.04: “The Monolith”)
Vitals
John Slattery as Roger Sterling, hedonistic Madison Avenue ad executive
New York City, spring 1969 and spring 1970
Series:Mad Men Episodes: – “The Monolith” (Episode 7.04), dir. Scott Hornbacher, aired 5/4/2014
– “Severance” (Episode 7.08), dir.Scott Hornbacher, aired 4/5/2015
– “Person to Person” (Episode 7.14), dir.Matthew Weiner, aired 5/17/2015 Creator: Matthew Weiner Costume Designer: Janie Bryant
Background
Though we in the Northern Hemisphere welcomed spring yesterday, some cities (I can speak personally for Pittsburgh) were greeted by the new season with a fresh onslaught of snowfall.
Bitterness aside… spring often finds well-dressed gents pushing their heavy flannel suits to the back of the closet and bringing forth items perfect for greeting sunnier days ahead. The double-breasted navy blazer remains a stalwart menswear staple for transitioning into the warm and wonderful days of spring, whether sporting it for an evening in the Riviera, greeting the morning on your yacht… or spending the afternoon in your Midtown Manhattan office, counting down the days to retirement.
Naturally, the latter situation brings to mind one Roger Sterling, the increasingly redundant but effortlessly witty Madison Avenue executive on AMC’s Mad Men. An old-school playboy with a nautical background, Roger is just the type to sport a navy double-breasted blazer. Roger was one of the few original characters from the show’s early days who seemed to have fun with the fashion evolution of the advancing decade, blending his personal preferences with the emerging trends of the late 1960s.
What’d He Wear?
This isn’t the first we see of Roger Sterling in a navy double-breasted blazer. SC&P’s head of accounts had started playing around with the look on screen during the previous season, sporting a four-on-two button blazer at the company’s Christmas party and a six-on-two button blazer with a day cravat for a drug-addled adventure with Don Draper and Harry Crane in California during the season’s tenth episode.
By 1969, the trend in tailored jackets was a clean and close fit. With its close and structured fit and two parallel columns of three buttons each, Roger’s serge blazer echoes the classic naval uniform “reefer jacket”, thus making it an appropriate style for this proud veteran officer of the U.S. Navy.
This particular blazer makes its first appearance in “The Monolith” (Episode 7.04) when the agency announces that it will be installing its titular IBM computer… and Roger finds out that his daughter has been living on a hippie commune.
Joan (Christina Hendricks), Roger (John Slattery), and Bert Cooper (Robert Morse) oversee SC&P’s latest announcement in “The Monolith” (Episode 7.04).
Roger’s navy serge double-breasted blazer, as mentioned, has six flat gold shank buttons that are neatly arranged in two straight columns of three buttons each. He tends to wear only the lowest two buttons fastened, so it is either a six-on-two or he is neglecting to fasten the top button. There are three matching buttons on the end of each sleeve. The blazer also has a welted breast pocket, flapped hip pockets, and single vent. Based on other items from Roger’s closet, as well as the show’s stated affiliation with the brand, it may have been made by Brooks Brothers.
In “The Monolith”, Roger follows the then-contemporary trend of balancing an odd jacket with patterned trousers, wearing a pair of Prince of Wales check trousers with a pink overcheck on a black-and-white glen plaid pattern. The trousers are likely flat front and worn with his typical black leather belt with its diamond-studded buckle embellished with a gold “S”… for Sterling, of course. The trousers have a straight fit and plain-hemmed bottoms.
After Lucky Strike’s betrayal, Roger Sterling was never seen without his deck of Camels – unfiltered, of course – near at hand.
As the seasons progressed, Roger evolved from more complicated shirts with collar bars and cuff links to a simple, standard white cotton dress shirt with a semi-spread collar, front placket, breast pocket, and rounded single-button cuffs by the seventh season. The only added touch? His “R.H.S.” monogram on the left cuff.
Roger wears a maroon silk tie with dotted beige stripes in the “downhill” direction of right-down-to-left. He completes the look with a tan silk pocket square with orange and navy dots, worn in the blazer’s breast pocket.
The combination of a navy blazer, white shirt, red tie, and gray trousers is a surprisingly trad suggestion for SC&P’s trailblazing fashion plate, but Roger Sterling puts his own stylish spin on it with mod touches from head to toe… and speaking of toes, Roger’s footwear by the final two seasons is almost exclusively a pair of mod black leather boots along the lines of the “Beatle boots” that had swept the nation during the British Invasion.
Roger’s Florsheim Imperial boots are black calf with plain toes and fastened with a zipper along the inside of each boot. He wears them here with black cotton lisle socks, as he does in most scenes regardless of his trousers.
Son-in-law Brooks and ex-wife Mona (in fact, John Slattery’s real-life wife Talia Balsam) implore the ad man to do something about his errant daughter.
The next time we see Roger in his navy double-breasted blazer, he has sprouted a walrus mustache that would distract and entertain viewers for the duration of the final season. “Severance” (episode 7.08) finds Roger seated with Ferg Donnelly (and the less said about Ferg, the better!) for an antagonistic conversation with Ken Cosgrove (Aaron Staton).
Now sporting his walrus-like whiskers that would see him through the end of the season, Roger wears the same shirt with another dot-striped tie and gray checked trousers. The tie consists of alternating stripes of red and pale blue dots in the “downhill” right-down-to-left direction on a navy ground, while the trousers are light gray wool with a faint multi-color check and plain-hemmed bottoms. His blue and red paisley silk pocket square echoes the color scheme of his tie.
1970: The Year of the Mustache
Our last look at Roger Sterling comes in the final moments of the final episode, “Person to Person” (Episode 7.14), with a vignette of the former ad man and former bachelor settling into retired life with Marie, enjoying lobsters, champagne, and lobsters.
Now that he’s out of the office, Roger’s made a total departure from his white button-up shirt and tie aesthetic, sporting a royal blue cotton shirt with a large point collar worn open at the neck to reveal a gold and navy paisley silk day cravat. The shirt has white mother-of-pearl buttons down the front placket and on the single-button rounded cuffs, and he appears to be embracing his new life of leisure by wearing it untucked over the top of his charcoal trousers.
There’s some indication that Roger has made good on his promise to marry Marie, as he now wears a second ring – a gold signet ring – on the third finger of his left hand… though this could just be a nod to the increasingly excess amount of jewelry worn by men in the ’70s.
As a bon vivant retiree enjoying his married life with Marie (Julia Ormond), Roger foregoes formality and wears his jacket open and shirt untucked.
Like many a stylish fellow in the ’60s (think Sinatra), Roger Sterling opts for a ring on his pinky. Though no screen time is dedicated solely to Roger’s left pinky ring, it is possibly the ornate gold high school class ring that was auctioned after the show wrapped production embossed with “PHS” and indicating a graduation year of 1927.
From the fifth season onward, Roger Sterling wore a Tudor Oyster Prince, aptly named for his princely disposition. Roger’s particular Tudor, ref. 7967, has a steel case with an elegant round black-and-white “tuxedo” dial and no crown guards, worn on a plain black leather strap. You can find out more about the process of sourcing watches for Roger, Don, Megan, and Pete from Derek Dier in this 2015 article by Benjamin Clymer for Hodiknee.
With a glass of Smirnoff in his hand, there’s no problem that Roger Sterling (John Slattery) can’t solve. Mad Men, episode 7.04: “The Monolith”
How to Get the Look
With his military background, it’s natural that Roger would gravitate to the double-breasted blazer as it resembles the “reefer jacket” he would have worn as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy during World War II. A quarter-century later, as the business world grows more lax in its workplace wardrobe parameters, Roger is able to revert to a more dressed-down style in line with his glory days as one of the Canoe Club’s finest.
Navy wool serge double-breasted blazer with peak lapels, 6-on-3 gold shank button layout, welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, single back vent, and 3-button cuffs
White cotton shirt with semi-spread collar, front placket, breast pocket, and 1-button rounded cuffs
Maroon silk tie with beige dot-stripes
Black-and-white plaid (with pink overcheck) Prince of Wales check flat front trousers with belt loops, side pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
Black leather belt with diamond-studded “S” belt buckle
Black leather zip-side plain-toe ankle boots
Black cotton lisle socks
Tudor Oyster Prince (ref. 7967) watch with steel case and black-and-white “tuxedo” dial on black leather strap
Gold class ring with black filling
Can’t get enough of Roger Sterling in a blue blazer? Season 7’s got you covered with a bold blue double-breasted blazer that makes appearances in two pivotal episodes, to be covered by BAMF Style at a later date. Stay tuned!
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out the first and second parts of Mad Men‘s seventh and final season if you want to see this blazer in action… or complete your collection with the entire series.
The Quote
Well, we’re getting a computer. It’s gonna do lots of magical things like make Harry Crane seem important.
Gallery
John Slattery can be seen wearing a very similar blazer in flight-themed promotional material for the first half of the seventh season. Though the two blazers may look the same at first glance, it’s worth noting that the blazer worn in the promotional material has mother-of-pearl sew-through buttons (rather than flat gold shank buttons) and swelled edges like the brighter blue blazer that he wears in “Time & Life” (Episode 7.11). The promo blazer’s Tautz-like peak lapels are also slightly different than the more conventional peak lapels in the show version.
The rest of his outfit – at least the shirt, trousers, and boots – remains unchanged for its appearance in that season’s fourth episode as featured in this post. (His tie would also be replaced with a slightly different one that follows the same color scheme and motif.)
Steve McQueen at Carmel, California, photographed by William Claxton (1964).
Vitals
Steve McQueen, iconic American actor
Fall 1964, Carmel-by-the-Sea, California
Photographs by William Claxton
Background
Happy birthday to Steve McQueen, born March 24, 1930, in Beach Grove, Indiana, then a small town of barely more than 3,500 people. By the age of eight, he had already received his first bike (well, a tricycle) and his first watch (a gold pocket watch from his uncle), two items that would become very important to his life and legacy. By the time McQueen died of cardiac arrest in November 1980, the “King of Cool” had cemented a place among the greatest American icons of screen and style through his performances in films like The Great Escape, Bullitt, and The Thomas Crown Affair, and his lifelong passion for racing and rebellion.
Steve McQueen was the type who strove for living like a legend, perhaps all too aware that he had to make the most of a life that would be shorter than most.
Neile and Steve share a picnic at Carmel with Peggy and Clax. Note the cast on Steve’s wrist and his Ferrari parked in front of Clax’s Porsche behind them. (Photograph by William Claxton, 1964)
“He was street-smart, animal-like, non-intellectual, and hip,” notes William Claxton, a renowned photographer who had been one of McQueen’s closest and most trusted friends through the early years of the sixties. “In fact, he brought new meaning to word hip: he was super-hip.”
Only a photo shoot so iconic could warrant diverging from BAMF Style’s usual movie or TV-centric posts, and Steve provided “Clax” with just that opportunity one day in the fall of 1964.
“After Steve finished The Cincinnati Kid, he and Neile asked Peggy and me if we would like to take a motoring trip with them,” recalls Claxton. “Neile had just given Steve a new Ferrari (’63 250 GT Lusso Berlinetta) and I had just bought a Porsche 356 SC. We went up the California coast on Highway 1, into San Francisco, over to Reno and Lake Tahoe, then down into Death Valley, and back to Los Angeles. It was a leisurely trip in spite of the times that Steve would pass my little Porsche at about 130 mph.”
Part of the “leisurely” trip included a stop in Carmel-by-the-Sea for a picnic where the two couples, McQueen and Neile Adams and Claxton and his wife Peggy Moffitt, enjoyed wine, weed, and wonderful views. In his years of acquaintanceship with the actor, Claxton had become accustomed to bringing along his “ax”, a fortuitous decision in this case as he captured some of the most iconic and enduring photos of Steve McQueen to date.
What’d He Wear?
Steve McQueen’s much celebrated shawl-collar cardigan may have remained a phenomenon of a half-century ago had it not re-emerged in its own somewhat unlikely style renaissance thanks in part to McQueen’s spiritual successor-in-style, Daniel Craig.
I’ve explored some of McQueen’s on-screen cardigans before – the brown sweater in The Cincinnati Kid and a maroon one in Bullitt – but it was the navy cardigan he had donned in real life for this “motoring trip” up the California coast that remains the most famous and envied by McQueen fans.
Steve McQueen and his wife Neile Adams in respite. (Photograph by William Claxton, 1964)
Steve lights a joint at Big Sur. Note his cardigan’s shaker-stitch.
The Cardigan
McQueen’s navy cardigan is constructed in a tight shaker stitch with a ribbed knit shawl collar, likely in lamsbwool or cashmere. The set-in sleeves also have ribbed knitting at the cuffs, which McQueen folds up once over each wrist.
The cardigan has six brown woven leather buttons up the front with an additional button under the right side of the shawl collar that closes up the chest, if needed. There is a straight-opening patch pocket on each hip.
You can try to track down a McQueen-style cardigan on your own, but Iconic Alternatives has already done the work for you! Check out the great finds that Iconic Alternatives has listed, but pay special attention to the BERK McQueen 4 Ply, made from 100% pure cashmere and inspired by the actor right down to the detail of the distant upper button for a warmer wear. (As of March 2018, this cardigan carries the hefty asking price of £850… but it’s nice to know that it’s out there.)
The Shirt
Steve’s undershirt is a much simpler affair. After a motorcycle accident left him with a broken wrist, McQueen evidently forewent fussing with a more elaborate shirt and instead pulled over a white cotton short-sleeve crew-neck t-shirt for the road trip.
McQueen, flanked by his wife Neile and Clax’s wife Peggy, during a Carmel shopping trip. (Photograph by William Claxton, 1964)
Despite the horological associations of McQueen with his Rolex Submariner and Heuer Monaco timepieces, the actor appears to not be wearing a watch for this jaunt up the coast with Clax, giving a new – or perhaps very literal – meaning to the word timeless.
The Pants
McQueen wears a pair of cream-colored cotton trousers that appear to be a cross between casual jeans and chino trousers.
When he wears the cardigan open while shopping in Carmel (see right), the flat front trousers have the same fit and styling as a pair of chinos, including the extended front waist tab with a hook closure.
Other shots of McQueen relaxing on the cliffs at Carmel give us a clearer look at his pants with their swelled seams along the sides and bottoms and the patch pockets on the back.
McQueen kicks back with Neile at Carmel. Note the wine-stain on his pants, and imagine just how carefree the couple felt in that moment. (Photograph by William Claxton, 1964)
The Boots
Ah, the boots… what would any discussion of Steve McQueen’s style be without inclusion of his boots?
First – the facts. McQueen appears to be wearing here a pair of “playboy boots” in chocolate brown suede, a darker shade than the snuff-colored boots that Bullitt made famous, worn with a pair of white ribbed cotton tube socks. The boots have two-eyelet open lacing with brown laces and charcoal crepe “bumper” soles, an essential – and comfortable – element that distinguishes playboy boots from other suede ankle-high footwear.
Playboy boots for a playboy lifestyle. Steve McQueen at Big Sur, 1964. (Photograph by William Claxton)
So, who made them? Traditional argument has limited the seemingly eternal discussion to two contenders: Hutton and Sanders & Sanders. Answering the question depends on what you want to know: are you trying to figure out who made the boots McQueen favored, or are you trying to figure out where you can get a pair like them?
Let’s begin by addressing the first question; Steve McQueen wore Hutton Original Playboy boots, both in real life and in many of his films. Hutton patented the distinctive crepe bumper sole in 1936, holding exclusive rights to it for four decades until it was forced to sell the patent in the 1970s. Considering that McQueen is seen here wearing his playboy boots in the mid-sixties – and they can even be spotted on his feet in 1958’s The Blob – we must deduce that his famous boots were made by Hutton of Northampton.
Seems simple enough. If you want a pair for yourself, you’d just go to Hutton, right? Not so fast… Hutton was forced to close its doors in the decades following the sale of its patent. In that time, numerous companies jumped on the playboy boots bandwagon, including the aptly named Playboy Footwear brand and the English heritage shoemaker Sanders & Sanders. The latter was one of many companies who carried on the tradition of producing desert boots after Hutton folded, and McQueen’s spiritual successor Daniel Craig even sported a pair of Sanders & Sanders hi-top chukka boots (in the playboy style if not name) in his most recent 007 adventure, Spectre.
To learn a little more about the Craig-McQueen boot connection or find affordable pairs of alternatives, check out what Iconic Alternatives has to say. You can also learn a thing or two from Steve McQueen Style’s most recent relevant post on the matter here.
The Hutton brand was recently revived in 2016, offering high-quality desert boots in very limited quantities to echo the footwear’s 1960s heyday, though it appears to stick to traditional desert boots rather than the McQueen-esque playboy boots that the original company remains famous for.
What’s a road trip without refreshments? Peggy Moffitt enjoys a glass of wine while chatting with Steve and Neile. Note the actor’s snazzy Ferrari. (Photograph by William Claxton, 1964)
In a way, the California road trip was a fitting swan song for the McQueen-Claxton association. Claxton states in the foreword of his book that, “after making The Cincinnati Kid, Steve went to Hong Kong to work on The Sand Pebbles,a nd Peggy and I went off to Europe to work on our own careers. In the passing years, Steve and I rarely spoke. We both had moved on with our lives.
In those few short years that I worked and played with Steve, we had a lot of fun, and I feel that I’m a very fortunate man for having known Steve McQueen, who was an American original.”
How to Get the Look
Neile Adams and Steve McQueen. (Photograph by William Claxton, 1964)
Steve McQueen remains emblematic of the “live fast, die young” ethos exemplified by his spiritual predecessor James Dean, and enduring interest in the “King of Cool” and his sense of style remains a timeless testament to his essential role in the study of menswear.
While it’s certainly possible to get your hands on these specific items and emulate McQueen, perhaps you’d be best served to follow his example of insouciance, blending his favorite garments regardless of their formality to create a comfortable, casual, and ultimately classic ensemble forever associated with him.
Navy shaker stitch-knit cashmere shawl-collar cardigan with six brown woven leather buttons and patch pockets
White cotton short-sleeve crew-neck T-shirt
Cream cotton flat front trousers with extended hook-closure front waist tab, front pockets, patch back pockets, swelled side seams, and plain-hemmed bottoms
Brown suede leather 2-eyelet playboy chukka boots with charcoal crepe bumper soles
White ribbed cotton tube socks
For more about Steve McQueen’s personal style, including the cardigan and boots featured here, check out my 2017 article for Primerhere.
As mentioned throughout the post, Iconic Alternatives has also done a fantastic job mining the Internet and its various clothiers for affordable options similar to the cardigan and boots.
William Claxton, camera in hand, stands with then-pal and frequent subject Steve McQueen in California, 1964.
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out William Claxton’s Steve McQueen, a delightful tome of Clax’s masterful photographs that capture not only an American icon at work and play but also the zeitgeist of an era that allowed such a man to flourish.
For McQueen fans, I cannot recommend it enough, but I’ll let McQueen’s biggest fan do the talking…
“It’s obvious that Dad trusted William Claxton very much,” wrote Chad McQueen in the afterword to Clax’s photographic tribute to his father. “‘Clax,’ as Dad called him has told me that he was constantly fascinated with his tough guy, often secretive and daredevil qualities; but most of all he admired his cool and hip personality. Clax and Dad both loved fast cars and took many trips together. Their relationship was unique and trusting. Otherwise, these moments could not have been recorded on film for all of us to enjoy. This book captures his friend, my Dad, in close-up.”
The Quote
I like to push it as far as it will go. It keeps me on the edge. It’s sort of a challenge. That feeling that I almost can’t make it, but then I do. Know what I mean? I think it helps my concentration.
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